After the deadly Uphaar cinema fire, two grief-stricken parents navigate the loss of their kids and a dogged fight for justice. Based on true events.
The Uphaar Cinema fire[1] was one of the worst fire tragedies in recent Indian history.[2] The fire started on Friday, 13 June 1997 at Uphaar Cinema in Green Park, Delhi during the three o'clock screening of the movie Border.[3] Fifty-nine people were trapped inside and died of asphyxiation, while 103 were seriously injured in the resulting stampede (suffocation).
The victims and the families of the deceased later formed The Association of Victims of Uphaar Fire Tragedy (AVUT),[4] which filed the landmark civil compensation case. It won ₹25 crore (equivalent to ₹53 crore or US$6.7 million in 2020) in compensation for the families of the victims.[5] The case is now considered a breakthrough in civil compensation law in India.[6][7] However, on 13 October 2011, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice R Raveendran, inexplicably, nearly halved the sum of compensation awarded to victims by the [Delhi high court], and slashed punitive damages to be paid by cinema owners, the Ansal brothers, from ₹2.5 crore (equivalent to ₹4.4 crore or US$550,000 in 2020) to ₹25 lakh (equivalent to ₹44 lakh or US$55,000 in 2020).[8]
The Uphaar Cinema fire[1] was one of the worst fire tragedies in recent Indian history.[2] The fire started on Friday, 13 June 1997 at Uphaar Cinema in Green Park, Delhi during the three o'clock screening of the movie Border.[3] Fifty-nine people were trapped inside and died of asphyxiation, while 103 were seriously injured in the resulting stampede (suffocation).
The victims and the families of the deceased later formed The Association of Victims of Uphaar Fire Tragedy (AVUT),[4] which filed the landmark civil compensation case. It won ₹25 crore (equivalent to ₹53 crore or US$6.7 million in 2020) in compensation for the families of the victims.[5] The case is now considered a breakthrough in civil compensation law in India.[6][7] However, on 13 October 2011, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice R Raveendran, inexplicably, nearly halved the sum of compensation awarded to victims by the [Delhi high court], and slashed punitive damages to be paid by cinema owners, the Ansal brothers, from ₹2.5 crore (equivalent to ₹4.4 crore or US$550,000 in 2020) to ₹25 lakh (equivalent to ₹44 lakh or US$55,000 in 2020).[8]
