Directors Nikhil Advani and Nikhil Gonsalves present us with an intense, fast-paced medical drama titled Mumbai Diaries 26/11. With a commendable cast that includes Konkona Sen Sharma, Mohit Raina, Prakash Belawadi, Shreya Dhanwanthary and several others, Mumbai Diaries 26/11 take us out of the luxury of private hospitals and put us in the gloom of the public ones.
– Mumbai Diaries 26/11 review does not contain spoilers –
The premise starts to unfold as a trio of new resident doctors reports at Bombay General Hospital’s emergency room for their first day. However, the day that starts with unprecedented emergency admissions and operations does not seem to end as drama and terror spill all over the city.
Why should you watch Mumbai Diaries 26/11?
Amongst all the repetitive and exhaustive content that every other streaming website is boring you with, Mumbai Diaries 26/11 is a breath of fresh air. This Prime Video Originals television series wastes no time as it does its best to replicate the urgency in the life of doctors, frontline workers and emergency staff.
“It’s important to mourn. But it’s also important to move on”, says Chitra Das, the character of Konkona Sen Sharma early on in the series. The writers of the show have beautifully planted the quote alongside the recurring dialogue where the doctors state the “time of death” for patients to remind us of the circle of life.
The story of Mumbai Diaries 26/11 is not just limited to the attacks but also involve the human relationships that were made and broken during the course of the national emergency. Although the show isn’t factually correct in depicting the core truth, it does exceptionally well when it comes to highlighting the events through a fictionalized set of eyes.
It is from the very start that you realize that everyone is going to be in action, both emotional and physical. It becomes a key feature of the series as it never lets you blink.
The cinematography is executed perfectly. We start our journey as a viewer in the day inside a hospital with grey, dull walls symbolizing the impending doom that is going to shock everyone’s lives. However by the end, amidst the chaos, we realize how the colour palette has shifted to let warm, golden street lights sip in through the rusted windows.
One essential ingredient that brings out the best in this series is the casting and the brilliant set of actors doing their absolute best. Mohit Raina as Dr. Oberoi delivers a heartfelt performance as goes from being a brash, top-performing surgeon to a dutiful, moral empath.
Konkona Sen Sharma plays the role of Chitra Das, the Social Services Director of the hospital who is passionate for the cause and works tireless to help others even though, she whiplashes back into her traumatic past at times. However, it is Shreya Dhanwanthary’s character Mansi who loses all ethical bounds and comes off as an unlayered, extra in the show.
All the other cast members such as Prakash Belawadi, Satyajeet Dubey, Tina Desai, Sandesh Kulkarni, Natasha Bharadwaj, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Mishal Raheja deliver a memorable performance. The sync of all cast members makes sure that we do not have a single protagonist rather an ensemble with equal priority.
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The Blemeishes in Mumbai Diaries 26/11
Irrespective of the fact that everyone tries their best to put the show in a different league, there are moments when the events look overly dramatized and unreal. The representation of media seems extreme and the motive to raise awareness on discrimination is a lost cause.
The talks on religion, faith, mental health, castism all look coerced and deliberate at times. The effort, however, to recognize the importance to add subjects relevant in today’s world is certainly laudable.
The Final Verdict on Mumbai Diaries 26/11
Amazon Prime’s Mumbai Diaries 26/11 is a part-fact, part-fiction story of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that provides us with a detailed view of the souls wearing white coats, scrubs and police uniforms. It is frenzied and swift while it pauses to show us valour, kindness and love.
We see terror and horror walk hand-in-hand but, we also witness the power of duty and courage it takes to save lives which makes this show stand out of the lot.
Mumbai Diaries 26/11 is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.