Mumbai Diaries 26/11 [2021]

Name - Mumbai Diaries - 26/11

No. of Episodes - 8

Runtime - Averaging 45 mins each

Platform - Amazon Prime Video

Dramatization of real-life events is ample source material for wringing out drama. It could be soap operas to the point that it misses the impact of real-life events, or it is exploitative to the point tthat the viewer gets disgusted. Or it could be so faithful that it becomes dry and almost documentary like in its visualization.

It's a balancing act that Mumbai Diaries does manage to pull off, utilizing well-known tropes of storytelling, character archetypes but creating the real life event as a sudden occurence which completely derails each characters' personal life, and leaves them in a completely different mindset, either externally or internally.

In medical procedurals like Grey's Anatomy or House, this entire 8 episode saga would have been condensed to three episodes, structured as a season finale to the next season. It might sound like a criticism, but its actually a compliment, because the screenplay by Nikhil Gonzalves, Yash Chhetija and Anushka Mehrotra ensures that the characters in the medical professions, the key protagonists as such, feel lived in and you can either relate to them , or you are interested in their journeys. After the series ended, I wanted a spinoff that would explain the journey of these characters, from Mohit Raina's maverick Doctor Oberoi, to his trusted level headed friend Dr. Sahil Aggarwal, to the three interns played by Satyajeet Dubey, Mrunmayee Deshpande and Natasha Bharadwaj.

Does it sound like Grey's Anatomy but for the Indian webseries audience? Maybe. But Mumbai Diaries does show it can work, because it manages to showcase the medical exploits, hardships and tribulations of the doctors working in a government funded hospital, the difficulties occurring lockstep with the successes, and what happens when a pressure cooker situation like the Mumbai 2008 terrorist attack just comes at these already weary doctors like a force of nature, and breaks them down to their bare essentials.

But Mumbai Diaries also focuses on the events occurring at the scene of the crime, the Palace Hotel (The Taj renamed for this series), the bravery of the F&B staff in escorting these guests out, especially its leader Ananya Ghosh, played by Tina Desai with a quiet strength. Ananya is also married to Dr. Oberoi, and their relationship is strained. Ooh, drama.

I joke, but drama is essential if you are making dramatizations. Dr. Oberoi needs to be maverick and capable of bending the rules, because screenwriters know how to write these characters well, having ample amount of references, from Hawkeye Pierce in MASH, to Gregory House in House. Its not an ideal choice, it could be different, we could have a story with a by the book protagonist, but drama is important. Conflict is necessary.

And the drama instances work, for the most part. Yes the screenwriters manage to fall on usual tropes, characters go into flashbacks and have time to talk in long hallways filled with stretchers of dead bodies about their past and explore their backstories. These are clunky expositions, but they don't harm the storytelling. They slow them down, yes.

There are other aspects which feel off. Shreya Dhanwantary's Mansi as a no-nonsense reporter in search of that story which could rocket her career is just taking every reporter trope and dialling it upto eleven, which ultimately creates a character who comes off more over the top than complex, and veers into unlikeable at moments. Shreya Dhanwantary tries her hardest to work with the material she is given, but she and her story is easily the weakest link.

The Anti-terrorist cell, with its head Tawde too comes off as unnecessarily combative in the middle episodes, even though it does create one of the memorable segments of the show, where Dr. Oberoi, in an effort to save his patient, who is one of the terrorists is stopped by Tawde at gunpoint, and in rebuttal says "Doctors are judges of bodies, not judges of characters". While not the thesis statement, this show does try to live by that statement in exploring each of the characters' points of view and does explore their humanity.

Mumbai Diaries succeeds in showcasing how the city of Mumbai became a war-zone, and director Nikhil Advani manages to shoot his actions set-pieces with flair and efficiency. From long takes to slow motions, to ensuring a yellow color palette throughout the shootout sequences in the hospital at the wee hours of the morning; Advani ensures that the viewers are left at the edges of their seat whether watching the characters escape the terrorist in the hotel, to watching the chaos and violence in the hospital when the patients start rolling in.

Advani and Nikhil Gonzalves manages to create something impactful here, and while not without its own share of flaws, Mumbai Diaries is an engaging and powerful watch, helped by good writing, but elevated by strong performances and even stronger direction.

Rating - ⭐⭐⭐.5/5