Railway Children (2016) by Prithvi Konanur

“And the trains?”

In his Oscar-winning feature film “Slumdog Millionaire,” British director Danny Boyle tells a story that is ultimately a fairy tale. The story of Jamal growing up in the slums, going through many trials and tragedies in his life, only to find some form of happiness at the end of the road, is essentially what authors like Horatio Alger described in his works as the “poverty to wealth” road. It is a story that is meant to give hope that, no matter the obstacles, you can rely on hard work and a strong will to survive and achieve your dreams, which is clearly a stark contrast to the current state of affairs. Director Prithvi Konanur explores similar themes in his 2016 feature film “Railway Children,” but ultimately brings realism to his story and characters, creating a believable and also much more relatable story.

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Twelve-year-old Raju (Parimala) runs away from home. He ends up at a train station miles away from his parents’ house, where he is picked up by Solution (Yash Ketty). He promises the boy a house near the tracks, as well as food, company and, much to Raju’s delight, a chance to earn his own money. However, a large percentage of what he earns from selling and collecting goods at the station goes back to Solution. Jollu (Mahonara K.), another member of Solution’s gang, takes Raju under his wing and shows him which places and people to avoid at the station, along with how to earn money by collecting empty plastic bottles for Solution.

Although initially annoyed that Raju is on his side, Jollu and he quickly become friends and help each other out. They share stories about their dreams for the future and how they want to leave the gang behind for good one day. Eventually, they hatch a plan to sell water on the trains themselves, which are not controlled by any of the other gangs. Although things go smoothly at first, it also brings a lot of unnecessary attention to them, which could very well endanger their lives.

Based on real events and “Rescuing Railway Children” by writers Lalith Iyer and Malcolm Harper, “Railway Children” approaches its subject and themes in a very realistic way. As we are introduced to the main character Raju, the audience experiences a new world that is both terrifying and dangerous. At the same time, we learn about the hierarchy in these two areas, the structure (or more precisely the “pecking order”) within Solution’s gang and also the machinations that govern life at the station, which of course are invisible to the eyes of the various commuters and passengers. However, Konanur and cinematographer Eswaran Thangavel emphasize how this world is not separate but parallel to our reality, which raises the question of whether it is truly invisible or whether we have simply chosen to ignore these exploitative and criminal structures. Considering the effect this approach is supposed to have on the viewer, the director succeeds in eliciting a combination of empathy and shock from his audience as he watches these children navigate this world and grow up faster in the process.

What ultimately sets “Railway Children” apart from other films with a similar theme is its approach to the characters. Parimala and Mahonara K. as Raju and Jollu deliver incredible performances as two children trying their best to survive in a hostile world, while also holding on to what makes them human, which ultimately sets them apart from their tormentors like Solution and his superiors. While there are some sequences that are quite difficult to watch, the young actors manage to make their actions seem based on the struggles of their characters. Interestingly, Konanur’s script not only observes their lives and their consequences, but also presents the vicious moral circle that these characters find themselves in. When Jollu talks about his dreams of forming his own gang, which Raju is eager to support, we already see them becoming something like Solution in the long run, as exploitation and abuse seem inevitable in this world.

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Moreover, while Yash Ketty as Solution comes across as the “villain” in this story, at least in the eyes of Raju and Jollu, the director also presents him as a small cog in a much larger machine. Our perception of these characters is challenged multiple times throughout the story, through the visuals and the performances. Perhaps there is a larger system at work here, one that we have chosen to ignore and that Konanur and his team are opening our eyes to.

“Railway Children” is a drama about friendship and camaraderie, but also about the moral dilemma of not becoming another exploiter and abuser. Prithvi Konanur creates a believable world with recognizable characters whose experiences and decisions sometimes shock and make us feel uncomfortable, but who ultimately have to make something invisible visible again.