“The railroad men”, the first production from YRF Entertainment, India’s streaming production arm. Yash Raj MoviesIt was a carefully considered choice by the studio director. Aditya Chopradirector Shiv Rawail has revealed.
The four-part series is a tribute to the unsung heroes of the 1984 war. Bhopal gas tragedy and marks the first company in a multi-year creative partnership between Netflix and Yash Raj Films.
In 1984, a cloud of toxic gas escaped from an American pesticide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal. He killed and injured thousands of people. The protagonists of “The Railway Men” are workers at the Bhopal train station who saved thousands of lives.
The cast is headed by R. Madhavan (“Rocket Shop”), Kay Kay Menon (“Bambai Meri Jaan”)Divyenndu Sharma (“Mirzapur”), emerging talent Babil Khan (“Friday Night Plan”) and Sunny Hinduja (“The Family Man”). The series marks the directorial debut of Rawail, who previously worked as an assistant director on the Yash Raj Films productions “Dhoom 3,” starring Aamir Khan, and “Fan,” starring Shah Rukh Khan. Rawail was the first ad director on “Befikre”, starring Ranveer Singh and directed by Chopra.
Rawail said, “The only thing I know about my mentor, Aditya Chopra, is that he would never do anything that he does not consider compelling enough for the public to see. I think that’s why YRF has managed to influence pop culture and shape people’s content choices for so many generations.”
“Aditya Chopra has selected ‘The Railway Men’ to be the first series that YRF will make for streaming. We worked on the script and pre-production process for over two years before Adi even decided to greenlight the series. He was that particular. His reason was simple: Adi wanted the same values of YRF to be reflected in the ethos of YRF Entertainment: his OTT (streaming production) arm and the projects he produces,” Rawail added.
“Adi wanted to recreate the Bhopal of 1984, expanding on the feel and aesthetic of the era. “He was willing to wait and improve ‘The Railway Men’ constantly until he was sure we were doing our best in trying to deliver orderly entertainment to the public,” Rawail said.
“The Railway Men” will stream on Netflix starting November 18.
