‘Trial By Fire’: Rajshri Deshpande, Abhay Deol on portraying the trauma of real-life parents in Netflix series

On 13 June 1997, Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy’s children, Unnati (17) and Ujjawal (13), were excited to go watch the Hinsi film Border starring Sunny Deol. Their mother had booked them balcony seats at Uphaar Cinema in Green Park, Delhi. They kissed her goodbye and promised to return by 7:30 pm.

They never came back home.

A fire that day at the cinema consumed 59 lives, including Unnati and Ujjawal’s, and injured over 150 people. Neelam and Shekhar wanted to hold those responsible for the tragedy; 26 years later, their battle for justice is still on. 

Netflix’s upcoming series Trial By Fire is based on the bestselling book, Trial By Fire: The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy by Neelam and Shekhar. Starring Rajshri Deshpande and Abhay Deol as Neelam and Shekhar, the show also stars Rajesh Tailang, Anupam Kher, Ratna Pathak and others in the cast. The series, dropping on January 13, is showrun by Prashant Nair, who has adapted the book to screen with Kevin Luperchio and has directed the series with Randeep Jha.

The Hindu caught up with Abhay, Rajshri, and Rajesh ahead of the series premiere. The lead actors talk about the challenges of portraying real-life people who have been fighting for justice, while dealing with trauma for the last 26 years.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q / Abhay, you have said that playing Shekhar Krishnamoorthy was your most challenging role; what made it so?

A /
Just the intensity of the tragedy he went through. Normally my characters are fictitious; of course, the more dramatic ones take more out of you. But this one was a real-life character, and that made it so hard. My problem [of playing the character], however, was small and insignificant compared to compared to the pain [Shekhar] had to go through. I wouldn’t wish this even on my enemies.

Q / Rajshri and Abhay, you play real-life parents who lost their kids. How did you prepare for your roles?

A / Rajshri: The preparation was not easy at all, because you need to understand 25 years of journey in someone’s life. And [Neelam Krishnamoorthy] is still fighting the case! She has changed, psychologically and physically, over the years. Will a person like this take care of her fitness? How will she walk? Will she have a hunch? Would she do any kind of makeup? All these details are important. But the most important part is in understanding the character’s emotional truth. If you don’t get that, all these details will amount to nothing.

A / Abhay: The characters belong to the urban middle class. So, it wasn’t difficult to adapt to the way they speak or their mannerisms. The more important questions we had were, how did they feel when their children died, when they faced injustice… these are uncomfortable questions to ask them. So, our director said, ‘We needn’t ask them, we’ll create their story [based on the information we have].’ The tragedy was so heart-wrenching that I couldn’t prepare for this role. And, no matter how much you prepare, at the time of the take, you have to throw it all out of the window. But what got me prepared for this role were the gravity of the subject, the admiration I have for the parents, and the importance of the message [of fighting for justice].

Q / How did you guys manage to portray real-life characters without talking to them?

A / Rajshri: We had to go through the process, which is the 25-year journey of the character. My character transitions to old age. That’s a very tricky area because it can look like a caricature. You can’t just put on a white wig. So, I looked at the elderly around me; my mother, for instance. I have seen how carrying the weight of her children, the family, and society has changed her. So I had a hunch about how a person like Neelam would age.

A / Abhay: I can give you an example. There’s a scene where Shekhar goes to confront a lawyer. I remember holding myself back because I had to be aware that he was older, that he was an average middle-class man. I had to show my courage and strength… but within the confines of my character. So, in every scene, I had to be aware of my character’s physicality, where he comes from, etc.

Q / Do you stay with the character even after the director says ‘cut’? How long does it take for you to get out of a process like this?

A / Abhay: I used to be someone who carried my characters with me. But I realised that was really hard on myself and the people around me. For many years now, I have been able to switch on and off from my characters. But it was much harder to switch off from Shekhar.

A / Rajshri: It’s difficult to switch off from your characters. Fortunately, some of my characters have really inspired me, so I don’t want them to go away from me. I want Neelam’s strength and courage forever. I run an NGO. While working on this series, I was also building a school in a tribal village for sugar-cutting labourers. The kind of the fight Neelam has… I want it with me forever.

Q / Do you think actors should be empaths?

A / Abhay: I don’t think you have to be an empath, but it helps if you are sensitive. In acting, sensitivity helps to read people better. It also helps with your performance, where you can be more aware of yourself. It’s not about the lines, it’s about what is in between the lines. So it takes a certain level of sensitivity to be aware of these things.

Q / Rajshri, you said you take your characters with you…

A / Rajshri: Just the best parts of them (smiles).

Q / But can you pick and choose like that? Because Neelam, despite her resilience and courage, has also gone through trauma. How do you handle that?

A / Rajshri: It’s difficult to understand the last 25 years of Neelam’s life and the trauma she has gone through. To answer your question about empaths, I feel, as human beings, we all should be one. Otherwise there is no point in life. If you look at where the world is going, only compassion, love and empathy will save us. We need Neelam’s courage and resilience to deal with the world.

Q / Rajesh, do closer-to-reality films work better on streaming platforms than in cinemas?

A / Rajesh Tailang: I don’t think a genre should work well only in streaming or only in theatres; it can work everywhere. Real-life stories can work well in cinemas too; it depends on the story. Having said that, an OTT series is like a novel, and you can elaborate on the plot and the subplots. In films, the story revolves only around the protagonists, their joys and sorrows. In OTT, you can delve into the other characters as well. So you can use that medium to explore the story and its characters better.

Trial By Fire will stream on Netflix from January 13