The Railway Men - The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984

They killed him, Imad.

Carbide.

They killed him.

How did this happen, Shazia bhabhi?

I don't know.

He was in really bad shape when he got home.

He was coughing a lot.

He said there was a leak in the factory--

MIC?

I don't know, Imad.

His eyes were swollen and red, ready to pop out.

As if someone had thrown chilies in his eyes.

They were burning.

He was breathing heavily.

He was coughing hard and vomiting blood.

As if his lungs would explode.

Do you know what this means?

Cherry-red discoloration.

He had decided to quit this job.

I asked him not to.

It was me.

I thought we could save up some more money--

No, bhabhi, this isn't your fault.

A little money…

The factory is to blame.

What did the company say?

Keep quiet.

Quiet.

Keep quiet.

Keep it, bhabhi.

For Salima.

For both of them.

It smells like bitter almonds.

It's poison. Hydrogen cyanide.

I promise you, bhabhi,

I may not be able to bring Ansari back,

but I won't let Carbide forget him.

Sir, you're the superintendent.

Please help me out. They'll listen to you.

Not my department, Uncle-ji.

Sir, give it a try at least.

My passport and my mother's death certificate is in it.

-If it's lost-- -Your luggage is gone for good.

Get a duplicate copy of the certificate. Now excuse me. Namaste.

It has my mother's death certificate.

No one is listening to me.

Vinod-ji, you seem very happy today.

Quit it, Ashok-ji.

If it weren't for the passengers, this job would be perfect.

-Sweets? -My wife sent these from Nagpur.

But what's the matter?

The usual nonsense. A hundred people lose their luggage every day.

Am I a fucking nanny looking for lost bottles of milk?

-Benedict. -Sir.

All good?

Yes, sir. All routine, sir. Just that Bhopal is offline, sir.

Sir-ji! Vinod-ji!

General Manager… Inspection… I just heard about it.

What's the ruckus about? What's the problem?

There's a problem. My friend called me from Bombay.

Rati Pandey sahab is on his way.

He's coming to Itarsi for an inspection.

That psycho's still in the Railways?

That's an excellent tip.

-Your snacks are on me today. -Thank you, sir-ji.

Everything must run smoothly tonight. And listen up.

He's the General Manager, not God who would magically appear before us.

He will come aboard his GM Special.

Check with the nearby stations and find it. Quick.

But Bhopal is still offline. What do we do?

I'm unable to make contact. I think line repair is going on.

-What's the next train to Bhopal? -Sir, Gorakhpur-Bombay Express.

It'll reach in a few hours.

The comms should be back by then. Search somewhere else for now.

Come on, wake up. Start making calls. Shall I get you chai?

No, sir, I am doing it.

Salima, move back, darling.

There's a nip in the air. You'll fall sick.

Come back. Get back here.

She's always up to some mischief. Always.

Sit properly now.

Are you hungry too, my boy?

Bad manners. Offer it to her first.

Didi?

She's got a stomach bug. She ate some junk in Jhansi.

Okay.

That's okay, darling. Come on, sit back. Sit down.

-Well, that's natural. -Is that so?

Good heavens.

One of my neighbors was a Sikh man who had a grocery store.

They burnt his shop down.

Why? What was his fault?

That he gave free candies to the neighborhood kids?

Or that he gave groceries on credit to the poor?

And now, he's lost everything.

And this gentleman says it's "natural."

You don't think so? Our Prime Minister was assassinated.

The Prime Minister! Don't you get it?

The anger is but natural for a couple of days.

-Isn't it? -A couple of days?

-Of course. -It's been a month.

The newspapers are still full of these stories.

Then stop reading the newspapers. Who's asking you to?

Is anyone forcing you?

Right. I should stop reading the papers.

Then I'll shut my eyes and ears too. They've killed 3,000 Sikhs.

Three thousand Sikhs.

Look, when a big tree falls, the earth trembles. Okay?

-Sure. -Yes.

Are you going to make the whole earth tremble here?

-Guard's here. -Keep it low and keep it calm.

Or you'll be deboarded at the next station. Okay?

It's a public train, not the living room of your house.

My advice is to stay away from politics.

It'll just add to your stress, that's all.

Come on, get to sleep now. Go on.

Go on.

Don't stay up all night. Go to sleep.

Come on, off to sleep.

-All the keys are here. -Okay, I'll get going.

Sir, the freight train is ready. I've given the keys to the night guard.

Now what, sir?

What do I do next?

Nothing. Just relax.

When the communication repair crew's work is done,

we have to get them from the other side of the station.

Until then, relax.

Damn, it's so cold, my balls are frozen.

What are you laughing at?

Hand me the torch.

Is it even working?

Yes, it's working.

-Be right back. -Okay, sir.

Your kind attention please.

82 UP Gorakhpur Express is scheduled…

Where the hell is Kaamil? We've been waiting for three hours.

We would've reached there and been resting by now.

Calm down, Adil. It's just time. It will pass.

A waste of time, Abbu. You drag me here every year.

Once you understand the teachings of Ijtema

and learn patience, we'll stop coming here.

Bhairavi, do you watch cricket?

Even Gavaskar doubles up as a bowler sometimes.

But on our team, even the swimmers can't swim.

"Save me! I can't breathe!"

Okay, that's enough.

Girls, turn that frown upside down.

Winning and losing are part of the game.

Give me your foot.

Bhaiya.

Do you remember the tune of the lullaby that maa used to sing to us?

Can you hum it?

-You must remember-- -I don't.

Gimme your other foot.

-Sir-sahab. -Not me. He's over there.

-Sir-sahab. -What happened, Vijaya?

Sir-sahab…

Some guests from the groom's side showed up uninvited.

So?

We ran out of food.

The caterer wants 350 rupees more to start cooking again.

I don't have the money.

All right, that's okay.

I gave him all I had.

-Keep this. -I'll return it as soon as I can, sir.

I have 270 rupees, Vijaya.

I'll give you the rest tomorrow. Okay?

He'll close the kitchen, sahab.

How can he…

Do you have 80 rupees?

-Sorry? -Do you have 80 rupees?

Yes. Of course.

Sir, anything for my brothers in the Railways.

And sisters too. This was my Diwali bonus. You can keep it.

-I'll return it soon, sahab. -No problem. Go home quickly.

-God bless you, son. -Yeah.

Those extra 20…

-Thank you. Close the door, please. -Okay.

Fuck my luck.

What the fuck?

What's this foul smell?

Damn.

Hey…

Hey, you!

Hey, you!

What's this smell? Can you smell it too?

It smells like boiled cabbage…

-Sohini didi! -What happened?

The groom's party…

Sir!

Amma! Amma…

Aunty, where is Amma?

She went to the station to get some money.

Hey, move!

Sir!

Sir!

-Come with me! -I'm going my way!

You should too!

Water!

Water… Give me some water.