‘Trial By Fire’ web series review: Intricate study of melancholy and the human condition

Express News Service

Netflix’s Trial By Fire is not about the 1997 Uphaar Cinema tragedy. At least, not in the manner most “based on a true story” shows are. It doesn’t take the flag-bearing, placard-wielding, fighting-for-justice narrative approach. The court arguments have a limited screen time. What concerns Trial By Fire are the people, before and after a cataclysm. It invests all its energies in telling a tale of human drama, of mistakes, of regrets, of gloom and disappointments. And, it does so, in a way that these stories linger, long after you have finished the series, like a whiff of smoke.

For the unversed (looking at you 90s kids), on Friday the 13th, in June, 1997, a fire broke out at the Uphaar Cinema in New Delhi’s Green Park area. It was the day JP Dutta’s (known for making patriotic action war films) magnum opus Border was released. The nationalist frenzy, even then, ensured that the show was a houseful. The fire began in a transformer, in the basement parking lot, and soon started blasting the cars parked there. The smoke travelled up the staircase and entered the cinema hall via AC ducts. 59 people died of asphyxiation and 103 others were grievously injured in a stampede that ensued after. The public announcement system was not working, the exit signs were not in place, more seats had been added to the theatre, above the mandate. They couldn’t escape because the gates were locked from outside, to ensure nobody without a ticket enters the hall.

A civil compensation case was filed against Gopal and Sushil Ansal, the industrialists who owned the theatre. The makers could have gone the usual route and entangled themselves with the technicalities of the case, the arguments and counter-arguments, the futility of the country’s justice system, but they chose to tell the story via a couple: Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost their children in the fire. A girl and a boy, aged 17 and 13.

Trial By Fire, for most of its runtime, strolls like a relationship drama. A couple, coping with the loss of their children. The mother Neelam (a stupendous Rajshri Deshpande) cuts her hair short, the father Shekhar (a magnificent Abhay Deol) cries on the washbasin. They embrace in bed, under the yellow glow of the night bulb, hoping to ward off the nightmares. There are others like them too. A poor, old man, who can’t pay for the last rites of his family, including an infant, which died in the fire. Another couple, a 1965 war veteran Hardeep Bedi (an aptly cast Anupam Kher) and his wife (Ratna Pathak Shah), who went to see the film, as a way to make up after a fight. A security guard, Umesh (Shardul Bhardwaj), sneaked in more people to the theatre, to make some cash on the side, and now has to live with the guilt.

It’s commendable how humanely Prashant Nair treats his characters. The episodes might be titled ‘Heroes’ and ‘Villains’ but there are none so black and white in this tale. Rajesh Tailang, plays Veer Singh, the engineer who repaired the transformer on the fateful morning. In just one episode, his life is so intricately explored, it could serve as a screenwriting lesson. We see him taking off his watch and valuables as cops come knocking at the door, his wife dealing with the arrest of her husband, his house being decked up for his daughter’s wedding. In one of the scenes, he is eating and introspecting, while the whole family, his daughter, son-in-law, son, daughter-in-law, are engaged in an animated discussion in the background. He followed orders from higher ups for all this, but was it worth 59 lives?

Another ‘villain’ is Ashish Vidyarthi’s Neeraj Suri. A dry fruits salesman cum muscleman, who is hired by the Ansals to browbeat the prosecutors. He starts off as a noirish character, lurking in the shadows, sweet-talking people, but the series decides to go deeper. We see his wife, nagging him to buy that house, him being concerned about his son’s education, hoping he doesn’t become like him. Everybody had their reasons and the creators don’t justify them but they present a holistic picture of a tragedy. They treat each story with such necessary softness and sensitivity, which is rare in such times, when even art is becoming polarised.

A performance which really stands out is Rajshri Deshpande’s. She expresses, not just through her unyielding gaze, but also via her gait. Even in scenes where she is merely typing away on a laptop, or arranging case files, a melancholy hovers over her face. Abhay Deol finally gets a role deserving of his acting capabilities. His Shekhar, emanates hopelessness and despondency in subtle actions, like brushing his teeth or standing in a beeline at a government office. His zeal to fight for justice is fading out as the years pass and he is becoming someone just yearning for an escape.

Trial By Fire deals with the incident only towards the end. The horror gets mixed with a heart-wrenching sadness… To see a herd of people pushing against each other to escape via a narrow staircase. Kids screaming, crying for help. A father, hugging the body of his lost child. I couldn’t skip as the credits rolled.

Series: Trial by Fire
Starring: Abhay Deol, Rajshri Desphande, Ashish Vidyarthi, Shardul Bhardwaj, Anupam Kher, Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajesh Tailang, Shilpa Shukla
Created by: Prashant Nair
Streaming on: Netflix
Rating: 4/5

<br> Netflix’s Trial By Fire is not about the 1997 Uphaar Cinema tragedy. At least, not in the manner most “based on a true story” shows are. It doesn’t take the flag-bearing, placard-wielding, fighting-for-justice narrative approach. The court arguments have a limited screen time. What concerns Trial By Fire are the people, before and after a cataclysm. It invests all its energies in telling a tale of human drama, of mistakes, of regrets, of gloom and disappointments. And, it does so, in a way that these stories linger, long after you have finished the series, like a whiff of smoke.

For the unversed (looking at you 90s kids), on Friday the 13th, in June, 1997, a fire broke out at the Uphaar Cinema in New Delhi’s Green Park area. It was the day JP Dutta’s (known for making patriotic action war films) magnum opus Border was released. The nationalist frenzy, even then, ensured that the show was a houseful. The fire began in a transformer, in the basement parking lot, and soon started blasting the cars parked there. The smoke travelled up the staircase and entered the cinema hall via AC ducts. 59 people died of asphyxiation and 103 others were grievously injured in a stampede that ensued after. The public announcement system was not working, the exit signs were not in place, more seats had been added to the theatre, above the mandate. They couldn’t escape because the gates were locked from outside, to ensure nobody without a ticket enters the hall.

A civil compensation case was filed against Gopal and Sushil Ansal, the industrialists who owned the theatre. The makers could have gone the usual route and entangled themselves with the technicalities of the case, the arguments and counter-arguments, the futility of the country’s justice system, but they chose to tell the story via a couple: Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost their children in the fire. A girl and a boy, aged 17 and 13.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

Trial By Fire, for most of its runtime, strolls like a relationship drama. A couple, coping with the loss of their children. The mother Neelam (a stupendous Rajshri Deshpande) cuts her hair short, the father Shekhar (a magnificent Abhay Deol) cries on the washbasin. They embrace in bed, under the yellow glow of the night bulb, hoping to ward off the nightmares. There are others like them too. A poor, old man, who can’t pay for the last rites of his family, including an infant, which died in the fire. Another couple, a 1965 war veteran Hardeep Bedi (an aptly cast Anupam Kher) and his wife (Ratna Pathak Shah), who went to see the film, as a way to make up after a fight. A security guard, Umesh (Shardul Bhardwaj), sneaked in more people to the theatre, to make some cash on the side, and now has to live with the guilt.

It’s commendable how humanely Prashant Nair treats his characters. The episodes might be titled ‘Heroes’ and ‘Villains’ but there are none so black and white in this tale. Rajesh Tailang, plays Veer Singh, the engineer who repaired the transformer on the fateful morning. In just one episode, his life is so intricately explored, it could serve as a screenwriting lesson. We see him taking off his watch and valuables as cops come knocking at the door, his wife dealing with the arrest of her husband, his house being decked up for his daughter’s wedding. In one of the scenes, he is eating and introspecting, while the whole family, his daughter, son-in-law, son, daughter-in-law, are engaged in an animated discussion in the background. He followed orders from higher ups for all this, but was it worth 59 lives?

Another ‘villain’ is Ashish Vidyarthi’s Neeraj Suri. A dry fruits salesman cum muscleman, who is hired by the Ansals to browbeat the prosecutors. He starts off as a noirish character, lurking in the shadows, sweet-talking people, but the series decides to go deeper. We see his wife, nagging him to buy that house, him being concerned about his son’s education, hoping he doesn’t become like him. Everybody had their reasons and the creators don’t justify them but they present a holistic picture of a tragedy. They treat each story with such necessary softness and sensitivity, which is rare in such times, when even art is becoming polarised.

A performance which really stands out is Rajshri Deshpande’s. She expresses, not just through her unyielding gaze, but also via her gait. Even in scenes where she is merely typing away on a laptop, or arranging case files, a melancholy hovers over her face. Abhay Deol finally gets a role deserving of his acting capabilities. His Shekhar, emanates hopelessness and despondency in subtle actions, like brushing his teeth or standing in a beeline at a government office. His zeal to fight for justice is fading out as the years pass and he is becoming someone just yearning for an escape.

Trial By Fire deals with the incident only towards the end. The horror gets mixed with a heart-wrenching sadness… To see a herd of people pushing against each other to escape via a narrow staircase. Kids screaming, crying for help. A father, hugging the body of his lost child. I couldn’t skip as the credits rolled.

Series: Trial by Fire
Starring: Abhay Deol, Rajshri Desphande, Ashish Vidyarthi, Shardul Bhardwaj, Anupam Kher, Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajesh Tailang, Shilpa Shukla
Created by: Prashant Nair
Streaming on: Netflix
Rating: 4/5