Trial By Fire, must-watch series about Uphaar Cinema tragedy

Trial By Fire is a grim series by Prashant Nair and Kevin Luperchlo and inspired by the 2016 book, ‘Trial By Fire The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy’.

Hyderabad: Trial by Fire about the Uphaar Cinema Fire of 1997 doesn’t waste much time in establishing the story. It gets straight to the point by showing a normal day in the life of the Krishnamoorthy family. Neelam and Shekhar have a happy family with two teenage children – Unnati and Ujjwal. Their world is turned upside down when the children die in a fire that engulfs the Uphaar cinema while they are watching the film Border. The next scenes are difficult to watch as the distraught parents search for their kids bodies which have been sent to the two government hospitals in Delhi. Rajshri Deshpande as the hapless mother Neelam, searching for her two children is the star of the series.

Her pain and trauma are difficult to watch as she tries to come to terms with her loss, while searching for answers as to why her children couldn’t be saved. Abhay Deol as Shekhar, Neelam’s supportive husband displays a quiet dignity as he tries to get parents of other victims to join the couple’s pursuit for justice.

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There is no overdramatization of their grief, it’s quiet, but you still feel their emotions as they go about their children’s rooms looking at their belongings. Kishan Pal as the old man who lost his entire family of seven, including a six-month old granddaughter is heart wrenching to watch as he struggles with the hospital procedures he must go through to take custody of his deceased kin’s bodies and the ensuing cremation costs he has no money for.

Trial By Fire is a grim series by Prashant Nair and Kevin Luperchlo and inspired by the 2016 book, ‘Trial By Fire The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy’. It’s a hard-hitting drama that’s definitely not happy watching. You see the parents of the victims grapple with the powerful lobbies that control Delhi’s justice and police system. The series also touches on the cover up job by the accused to pay off the authorities to tamper with the evidence that points to their guilt.

The Netflix seven-part series might be mostly fiction as they state at the outset, but is loyal to the main aspects of the tragedy. There is small solace in the fact that the parents and families of the 59 victims won the biggest ever civil compensation case against the Ansal Brothers who owned the Uphaar cinema. The series, however, is a tribute to the undying spirit of the families that fought for justice over two decades in a flawed system.

Series: Trial By Fire

Streaming on: Netflix

Director: Prashant Nair, Randeep Jha

Cast: Abhay Deol, Rajshri Deshpande, Anupam Kher, Kishan Pal, Shilpa Shukla