In the year 1997, on 13th June, numerous people were enjoying the 3 p.m. show of the the patriotic film ‘Border’ at Uphaar Cinema Hall, Green Park, New Delhi. But soon a fire broke out inside the cinema hall which saw 59 people dying of asphyxiation, while 103 were seriously injured in the stampede that ensued.
Netflix’s latest, ‘Trial By Fire’, is a retelling of the same tragic incident but it revolves around the aftermath of the incident and the following struggle for justice that the families of victims had to endure. Here, Abhay Deol and Rajshri Desphande essay the roles of Shekhar Krishnamoorthy and Neelam Krishnamoorthy, a couple who lost both their children to the tragedy.
Now, the trailer is a sharp one. We see glimpses of the events leading upto the incident, the frenzy of people looking for their known ones in hospitals and then the courage-crippling obstacles in seeking the truth. While things heat up as people scram for answers, a wailing Abhay Deol screams, “The doors were locked from the outside.” That small moment says a lot about what we can expect. It hints at carelessness and other factors that could have been responsible for the fire. The cast also includes Rajesh Tailang, Ashish Vidyarthi, Anupam Kher, Ratna Pathak Shah, Shilpa Shukla and Shardul Bharadwaj.
The series is inspired by the bestseller book, ‘Trial by Fire: The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy’ by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy. The new series is showrun by Prashant Nair, who has adapted the book to screen with Kevin Luperchio and also directs the series with Randeep Jha.
Produced by Endemol Shine and House of Talkies, Trial By Fire streams on 13th January on Netflix.
You can watch the trailer here-
