When you think of India, what comes in mind is probably their colourful clothes, elaborate dance numbers in their Bollywood movies and—unfortunately—overcrowded slums. But, guess what? India is mostly made up with livable spaces inhabited by people who are just trying to survive and reach their aspirations. These are the people who lie between the superrich and the exceedingly poor—the people who may have just about enough to get by, but not scraping on crumbs to do so. These are the adequately educated who are smart enough to fight for their rights—especially when those rights have been violated and their loved ones had to pay with their lives.
Earlier this year Netflix released a miniseries based on the true story of the aftermath of the Uphaar Cinema Fire in 1997. Created by Kevin Luperchio and Prashant Nair, this 7-episode series shows the underbelly of the Indian corrupt system and what it costs its people—which hits so close to home for me. Needless to say, I hung my hope on the protagonists of this story. Here is Trial by Fire.
The story starts out in 1997 and follows two parents, Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the Uphaar Cinema Fire. When Neelam finds out something strange about the incident from her son’s friend—who survived—, she and Shekhar know their children’s death could have been avoided and start to seek justice. Apparently, it isn’t easy, because the Uphaar Cinema—much like most of the buildings in Delhi—is owned by the Ansal brothers. Their power is unparalleled in the city and no lawyer, politician and government official dares to even try to investigate the incident, for fear of seeming to cast doubt on the brothers’ capability in any way.
Since they have been told that the two of them alone wouldn’t be able to acquit the powerful Ansal brothers, Shekhar have the idea to gather the other families of the fire’s victims and band together to create a united voice to take legal action against the people responsible for the tragic incident. At first, Neelam is more skeptical about Shekhar’s plan and decides to go off on her own to appeal to people in high places. Eventually, though, Neelam and Shekhar is joined by several fellow families of the victims and form an association together. With the help of Supreme Court of India advocate K.T.S. Tulsi‘s counsel, the association keeps pushing forward to get justice for the (wholly avoidable) death of their loved ones—even if it takes forever.
I cannot believe a story this powerful and at such a scale has escaped international attention for so long. Granted, around the time it happened, the state of many countries was in deep uncertainty. But still, seeing as how long it actually took for the case to have a form of conclusion, it is unbelievable that we don’t hear about it more often—at least in passing. The most beautiful thing about this story is the fact that it is a powerful case that is built by the victims’ families banding together to get justice for the completely avoidable deaths of their loved ones, especially as they were only looking for an afternoon of good times.
You can see, however, that the case is really not that simple. There are so many people involved, who may or may not be intentionally negligent. This story lies on that grey area where whatever the verdict ends up being, a lot of people with a lot less power may have to pay the price. The case goes for the very root of the problem: its systemic corruption, which allows for so many minor things to bring catastrophic repercussions—for instance, the late arrival of the fire department plays a huge role of why the victims died to begin with. All in all, this movie allows you to see India in its contemporary setting.
When you think of India, what comes in mind is probably their colourful clothes, elaborate dance numbers in their Bollywood movies and—unfortunately—overcrowded slums. But, guess what? India is mostly made up with livable spaces inhabited by people who are just trying to survive and reach their aspirations. These are the people who lie between the superrich and the exceedingly poor—the people who may have just about enough to get by, but not scraping on crumbs to do so. These are the adequately educated who are smart enough to fight for their rights—especially when those rights have been violated and their loved ones had to pay with their lives.
Earlier this year Netflix released a miniseries based on the true story of the aftermath of the Uphaar Cinema Fire in 1997. Created by Kevin Luperchio and Prashant Nair, this 7-episode series shows the underbelly of the Indian corrupt system and what it costs its people—which hits so close to home for me. Needless to say, I hung my hope on the protagonists of this story. Here is Trial by Fire.
The story starts out in 1997 and follows two parents, Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the Uphaar Cinema Fire. When Neelam finds out something strange about the incident from her son’s friend—who survived—, she and Shekhar know their children’s death could have been avoided and start to seek justice. Apparently, it isn’t easy, because the Uphaar Cinema—much like most of the buildings in Delhi—is owned by the Ansal brothers. Their power is unparalleled in the city and no lawyer, politician and government official dares to even try to investigate the incident, for fear of seeming to cast doubt on the brothers’ capability in any way.
Since they have been told that the two of them alone wouldn’t be able to acquit the powerful Ansal brothers, Shekhar have the idea to gather the other families of the fire’s victims and band together to create a united voice to take legal action against the people responsible for the tragic incident. At first, Neelam is more skeptical about Shekhar’s plan and decides to go off on her own to appeal to people in high places. Eventually, though, Neelam and Shekhar is joined by several fellow families of the victims and form an association together. With the help of Supreme Court of India advocate K.T.S. Tulsi‘s counsel, the association keeps pushing forward to get justice for the (wholly avoidable) death of their loved ones—even if it takes forever.
I cannot believe a story this powerful and at such a scale has escaped international attention for so long. Granted, around the time it happened, the state of many countries was in deep uncertainty. But still, seeing as how long it actually took for the case to have a form of conclusion, it is unbelievable that we don’t hear about it more often—at least in passing. The most beautiful thing about this story is the fact that it is a powerful case that is built by the victims’ families banding together to get justice for the completely avoidable deaths of their loved ones, especially as they were only looking for an afternoon of good times.
You can see, however, that the case is really not that simple. There are so many people involved, who may or may not be intentionally negligent. This story lies on that grey area where whatever the verdict ends up being, a lot of people with a lot less power may have to pay the price. The case goes for the very root of the problem: its systemic corruption, which allows for so many minor things to bring catastrophic repercussions—for instance, the late arrival of the fire department plays a huge role of why the victims died to begin with. All in all, this movie allows you to see India in its contemporary setting.