Watch the trailer for the Crucible led by Abhay Deol

Trial by Fire trailer is out now. Ahead of its January 13 premiere, Netflix has released a trailer for the Abhay Deol-directed limited series, which chronicles the aftermath of the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy that claimed the lives of 59 people. The non-linear dramatization explores the 24-year-long court process seeking civil compensation for the affected families, as documented in the best-selling Trial by Fire: The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy, written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost their children in the harrowing incident.

The trailer for trial by fire begins by highlighting the enthusiasm with which the Krishnamoorthy children watched the 3pm showing of Border, hoping to return by 6:30pm. “A few more years and they’ll be gone,” Shekhar (deol) tells his wife Neelam (Rajshri Deshpande), not realizing that it would be the last time they would ever see the children. It’s interesting and somewhat poetic to see Deol take on this role, considering his cousin Sunny Deol directed the aforementioned film, which for some people is synonymous with tragedy at this point. The Trial by Fire trailer is then cut to show an explosion at the Uphaar cinema, with families pushing past bystanders to pull out survivors.

“The doors were locked from the outside!” Shekhar cries in anguish as a couple of police officers charge at him, presumably to prevent him from causing a greater commotion. the trial by fire Trailer shifts the focus to the aftermath of the incident, with concerned parents demanding some sort of response from authorities. “There is no shortage of people to blame for the Uphaar cinema fire, but my clients are not among them,” an unnamed lawyer put his case in court, much to the dismay of families involved, including the Krishnamoorthys. “You’ll get away with it. Nobody wants to listen,” says Neelam, who firmly believes the theater’s owners should be held responsible. And this forms the core of the story and reflects real life as the Krishnamoorthys along with other heartbroken families die Association of Victims of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy (AVUT) for civil compensation.

“They think they can push us around and there’s nothing we can do about it. That we’re too small to matter. But they don’t know that when we come together, we strengthen each other,” says Shekhar, who is now preparing for a 24-year process and co-writing the book documenting it all. The Trial by Fire trailer also offers glimpses of a car chase likely involving the theater owners, the Ansal brothers, who have eluded arrest for days. The limited series also stars Rajesh Tailang (Crime in Delhi), Ashish Vidyarthi (Rudra: The edge of darkness), Anupam Kher (The Accidental Prime Minister), Ratna Pathak Shah (Thappad), Shilpa Shukla (Chak De! India) and Shardul Bharadwaj in unknown roles. Prashant Nair (Umrika) co-directs the series with Randeep Jha – the former also serves as showrunner.

All Trial by Fire episodes drop 13th January on Netflix.