New Delhi: A devastating fire engulfed Uphaar cinema hall at Green Park in Delhi on June 13, 1997, leaving 59 people dead and more than a hundred injured. The fire broke out during the screening of the Hindi film Border. 26 years have passed since the Uphaar tragedy but its memory is still fresh in the minds of people who lost their close ones. Shekhar and Neelam Krishnamoorthy, a couple who lost their two children in the tragedy decided to write a book describing the hardships they faced to get justice, and named it 'Trial by Fire'.
The book was published in 2006 by Penguin publications and has recently been converted into a web series released on January 13 on Netflix. Speaking to ETV Bharat, Neelam said, "My husband Shekhar and I decided to write a book describing the hardships we faced while trying to get justice not only for our children but for all the victims of this tragedy. The book was titled 'Trial by Fire' in English and 'Agnipareeksha' in Hindi. It was published in 2016, after which Siddharth Jain contacted us and offered to make a movie based on our book. We were hesitant to accept the offer."
However, she said, her husband convinced her, though they put one non-negotiable condition before the filmmakers. "This is a very serious, sensitive, and emotional issue, and a movie must be made keeping all this in mind. We did not want any melodrama in the movie. The filmmakers agreed. Later on, they decided to turn the book into a web series instead of a movie," Neelam said.
Talking about the legal battle that she and her husband fought for several years, Neelam said that she had never imagined that she would have to face such ordeals at the court. "Standing against the rich and powerful is very difficult. We received several threats, but we did not step back. President of the Court's Bar Association, along with 30 other lawyers also threatened us, but after losing our children, we did not have any fear of losing anything else. We stood strong against them," Neelam said, adding that she also got support from other victim families who 'came together like a family and fought unitedly against the culprits for 26 years'.
Giving her review on the web series, Neelam said, "The film has been directed in a very dignified manner. The actors played their roles very well. Although the shooting was done during the Covid pandemic, the actors have managed to portray our characters very well."
Neelam's 17-year-old daughter Unnati and 13-year-old son Ujjwal were among 59 others who lost their lives in the June 13, 1997 Uphaar tragedy. During the investigation of the incident, it was found that a fire broke out in the transformer room of the theatre, which quickly spread to other areas of the hall. There were no adequate security arrangements in the cinema hall.
Police arrested the Cinema hall owner Sushil Ansal and his son Pranav Ansal from Mumbai on July 22, 1997. The investigation of this case was handed over to the CBI on November 15, 1997, after which, CBI filed a chargesheet against 16 people including Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal. High Court orders compensation of Rs 18 crore to the families of the victims on April 24, 2003. 12 accused including Sushil and Gopal was sentenced to two years imprisonment on November 20, 2007, and the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of the Ansal brothers on March 5, 2014.
