The Railway Men: Why did Aditya Chopra want to recreate the Bhopal of 1984? Director Shiv Rawail answers

If you are in your late 40s, you would likely be aware of the tragic Bhopal gas tragedy that jolted the state of Madhya Pradesh. Tailoring to those memories is a Netflix series titled ‘The Railway Men’ that aims to throw light on how brave railway workers risked their lives to save others in the face of an unspeakable disaster. This series is produced by YRF Entertainment under the guidance of Aditya Chopra. Shiv Rawail is the director of the series while R Madhavan, Babil Khan, and Kay Kay Menon play key roles in it.

Why did Aditya Chopra want to recreate the Bhopal of 1984?

In an exclusive interview with Variety this morning, filmmaker Shiv Rawail outlined why Aditya Chopra and his YRF Entertainment team desire to produce the series.

“The one thing that I know about my mentor, Aditya Chopra, is that he would never make anything that he doesn’t feel is not compelling enough for audiences to watch. I think this is why YRF has managed to influence pop culture and shape the content choices of people for so many generations,” said Shiv.

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Shiv highlighted that Aditya Chopra handpicked ‘The Railway Men’ to be the first series that YRF makes for streaming. “We worked on the script and the pre-production process for over two years before Adi decided to even greenlight the series. He was that particular. His reason was simple – Adi wanted the same values of YRF to reflect in the ethos of YRF Entertainment – its OTT [streaming production] arm and the projects that it produces,” Rawail added.

Also Read: The Railway Men review: ‘A few good men’ - Kay Kay Menon, R Madhavan, Babil Khan, Divyenndu - get on the right track of heroism and gripping realism

Finally, Shiv wrapped up and narrated that Aditya desired to recreate the Bhopal of 1984, scaling up the feel and aesthetic of the times.

The Railway Men can be viewed anytime only on Netflix.

Also Read: The Railway Men release date: When and where to watch R. Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Divyenndu, Babil Khan's web series on OTT