Yash Raj Films announced its maiden OTT project, The Railway Men, on Thursday. Starring actors R Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Divyenndu Sharma, and Babil Khan, the web series will premiere on December 2, 2022.
The series, which started filming on Wednesday, will be a tribute to the railway workers at Bhopal station during the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
In the late hours of December 2, 1984, methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide factory owned by the American Union Carbide Corporation. More than half a million people were reportedly poisoned that night with the official death toll exceeding 5,000.
“The Bhopal gas tragedy is the world’s worst industrial disaster that has impacted scores of people since it struck the city 37 years ago. At YRF, we are constantly trying to develop the best compelling stories for the audience and this is our tribute to the unsung heroes of the tragedy who, despite saving thousands of lives on that fateful day, are still unknown to people across the world,” Akshaye Widhani, Senior Vice President of Yash Raj Films, said in a press release.
“The Railway Men is our salute to their spirit, their courage, and their humanity. This is a story that needed to be told. We are not going to leave any stone unturned to ensure that this story reaches out to audiences, across the world, in the best possible way so that they can understand the depth of devastation that this tragedy has caused in India,” added Yogendra Mogre, executive producer at YRF Entertainment.
The Railway Men marks the directorial debut of Shiv Rawail, who has previously worked as an assistant director on Yash Raj Films productions such as Dhoom 3 and Fan.
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Earlier in November, it was announced that Aditya Chopra has earmarked Rs 500 crore for YRF’s OTT arm that will be called YRF Entertainment. The 50-year-old filmmaker and his studio have been working on floating the OTT venture for the past two years and have a total of five streaming series lined up over the upcoming year.
Meanwhile, YRF has several films set for release in theatres. Chopra also announced recently that he will make his Broadway directorial debut in Autumn 2022 with a Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge musical.