User Reviews

Well documented documentary film . Captured the moments and the curious mind and brought back fond memories of the past in the early 2000s while traveling in Trains to and fro Howrah

What you expected is what you get.. Here's the BBC summary of the two-part mini-series:

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Monsoon Railway traces the amazing stories of some of the 1.5 million people who work for the world's greatest railway.

For the last 150 years the railway in India has driven social and economic development in the country, and it is a railway on which the billion-strong population depends.

Focusing on an area in the North East of India - Assam and Bengal - Monsoon Railway captures a rare snapshot of the lives of those who work on the network, and follows three workers from July to September 2004 during the unforgiving rains of the summer monsoon.

The programmes track the monsoon through the eyes of Steve D'Cruz, a train guard from Kharagpur; Tapas Bagchi, a trouble-shooting traffic inspector from Kolkata; and Subash Kumar Rain, a young Darjeeling wannabe rock star and assistant driver in the wilds of Assam. We also meet Bombaya, a free-wheeling 11-year-old orphan who lives on platforms, and Mukteshwar, a religious coolie. ------------------------------------------------------------------

I couldn't have summarised it better myself - you almost feel like you're there, can almost experience the bustle, the voices, the smells. Railways in India are not what they are in the so-called "civilised" west. The lives and aspirations of the managers, workers, passengers, and all who live close to the railway are tied to it. It's their life-blood, and that comes over strongly in the two episodes. There's not a great deal about the engineering or technology here, but even if that's what you're interested in, watch "Monsoon Railway". It'll change your view of railways and what they're all about, and your distant myopic view of ordinary working people in India for ever. You'll realise just how important the life-giving monsoon rains and what we consider just to be a transport system are to these people. At the end I wanted to see more - it's excellent.

I watched this after enjoying the recent BBC series "Indian Hill Railways" about three of the smaller and historical local railways that grind up into the misty wooded hills. No review on IMDb yet, but perhaps I'll just have to write my own - it's another not to miss.

When the DVD title of "Monsoon Railway" by National Geographic and Producer/director Mr. Gerry Troyna, hit the store sometime back in December 2008, I made my mind that I will buy this for my personal collection.

Sadly, this was a bad decision of all time as the documentary it self doesn't even stand up to my expectations! The director has filmed in a way that he is more interested in showing India's poverty and poor people than the suggesting title. Super tight close ups of poor people and local commuters feel you yuck! After a few minutes you will get confuse what exactly are you looking? a title on Indian Railway or India's poverty! What a waste of time and money.

I really didn't understand what the director was trying to make out of this subject. I have so many documentaries in my collection but none of them is as painful as this one.

My suggestion is to go and take actual ride of train than to see this title even if it offered to you free!