Mumbai Diaries Season 2 review: Konkona Sen Sharma, Mohit Raina's series dives deep into drama, emerging as a watertight medical thriller

3/5

Bombay General Hospital's staff must once again put their own problems—some of which threaten to kill them, their relationships, and their very futures—aside as a deadly flood threatens to submerge the city of Mumbai. In order to stay afloat and continue doing what they do best—saving lives—they will have to face their past and present demons.

The first season of Mumbai Diaries on Prime Video was based on the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which brought us the story of the frontline workers, the doctors of the Bombay General Hospital, based on the staff of Cama and Albless Hospital. The second season begins with showing the Mumbai floods, and if you recall, the severe storm and subsequent deluge took place on July 26, 2005, three years before the 26/11 attacks.

However, Nikkhil Advani took the creative liberty of showing the flood situation as an aftermath of the terrorist attacks, which took place eight months later in 2009. This time, the series delves more into the personal lives of the doctors present there, especially Dr. Kaushik Oberoi (Mohit Raina), Dr. Diya Parekh (Natasha Bharadwaj), and Dr. Chitra Das (Konkona Sen Sharma).

Kaushik goes through a media trial as he saves a terrorist over a top cop while also getting ready to embrace parenthood with his wife, Ananya Ghosh (Tina Desai). On the other hand, Diya is dealing with her mother's death (Sonali Sachdev). Meanwhile, Chitra faces her past in the new season as her abusive husband, Dr. Saurav Das (Parambrata Chattopadhyay), marks his arrival at the hospital. Amid all this, there's a heinous flood situation as the hospital starts getting waterlogged.

This time, too, complicated cases make their way into the emergency room. However, the professional and personal lives start intertwining in the staff's lives, and they have to make the right decision at the right time.

When I watched the first season two years ago, I didn't enjoy it as much as expected, and the main issue I found with the story was that there were too many cooks, which spoiled the broth. However, the tryst continues, and I have realised that emergency room patients are just the catalysts and a push to the main characters and how they could deal with their problems.

This time, the series shifts more into the thriller genre, as not just the natural calamity but also humans turn antagonists. In the first season, it was the system, as well as the terrorists, that were the villains. However, human emotions just get stronger and more intense during this season. But that's what worked more for me than the first season here.

As a viewer, the characters and their situations are flung like a flamethrower, where you have just to get ready for what might happen next. However, that's only with characters, and after a point in time, with them, you get into a situation where many things become predictable in between episodes.

Interestingly, 26/7 has not been explored much in Hindi movies and series, barring maybe Tum Mile (2005), which was a love story and a reunion of former lovers. But Mumbai Diaries once again make this city a very important character and show human emotions, but this time they are divided between goodness and egoism.

Mohit Raina's character, Dr. Oberoi, was shown as a top trauma surgeon who thought highly of himself in the first season. As the months pass, he realises that the past has messed him up so much that the one who didn't think twice before treating a terrorist and a cop freezes amid an extremely complicated surgery. On the other hand, his wife goes missing simultaneously as she gets stuck in the traffic and flooded Mumbai streets. The actor almost vanishes in a couple of episodes but makes a comeback and becomes more humane. That transformation has definitely worked in the favour of the series and the character. Despite a limited screen time compared to the previous season, where he shouldered the series, Mohit does leave an impressive mark.

Meanwhile, in the first season, there was a glimpse of Konkona dealing with her past, where she was in an abusive marriage. That ghost from her becomes a reality right in front of her eyes. We get to see glimpses of how she went through a traumatic marriage, and once again, it works beautifully for the character where she goes from being a survivor to a saviour and vice versa. However, it takes quite some time to get drawn to see Konkona as a weak person, which she has done previously, but eventually it's her performance that makes the character more believable and relatable, so to speak.

The first season gave us a glimpse of how casteism and bigotry, as well as nepotism, are so real and will never be irrelevant in this country. However, Satyajeet Dubey, Mrunayee Deshpande, and Natasha Bharadwaj's characters as those interns—who each have their own baggage—take precedence. Does that baggage just vanish in eight months? Well, it can, but on the whole, it looks like the characters' issues have changed and become more polished, unlike what they faced. The moving on was shown quite easily to get to the fast life of Mumbai.

That cannot take away from the fact that their performances were good. Satyajeet, as Dr. Ahan Mirza, still stands to be the most lovable character in the series, as his imposter syndrome kicks in the right way. Mrunmayee, who is shown as a fighter and an upfront Dr. Sujata Ajawale, takes several matters into her own hands, which makes her face repercussions. But the actor holds her will rightfully and grabs attention whenever needed. Meanwhile, Natasha, as Dr. Diya Parekh, gets to be a silent warrior this time, and the track given to her does work beautifully, giving her an angle of gender identity.

Nikkhil Advani takes the responsibility well to bring another emotionally driven series; however, like the first season, the real calamity does take a slight backseat, but it is not possible to do it overall as the hospital does get submerged in water.

One thing I am very glad about is that Shreya Dhanwanthary's character as journalist Mansi Hirani is getting a much better arc. Her character was the worst written and very caricaturish in the first season. There's quite a redemption in this one, as she also gets to be on the other side of facing troubles.

Every episode does get grippier, and you might end up binge-watching the series like I did. But I would say I enjoyed this season more than the first season. It also brought back memories of what I faced as a 12-year-old girl, getting stuck in floods and waiting for my parents to reach home safely.

Nikkhil Advani adeptly balances emotional narratives, though the calamity occasionally takes a backseat, making it a flooded yet riveting journey.