Mumbai Diaries Season 2 Review: Mohit Raina, Konkana Sen Sharma's Series Recreates Gravity of July 26 Mumbai Flood Tragedy But Fails To Connect The Dots (LatestLY Exclusive)

Mumbai Diaries Season 2 Review: Content on real-life situations or tragedies can be quite triggering at times. Especially if you have lived it or witnessed it without being directly involved. The 26/11 terror attacks were that for me and hence, I refrained from watching the first season of Mumbai Diaries. This season picks up the July 26 like Mumbai floods as its premise but gets a bit confusing. Mumbai Diaries 26/11 Review: A Weak Retelling of a Tragedy That’s Elevated by Mohit Raina, Konkona Sen Sharma’s Committed Performances (LatestLY Exclusive).

The day is July 26 and Dr Kaushik Oberoi (Mohit Rana) is fighting a legal case lodged against him by the wife of slain 26/11 top cop Kelkar, Savita (Sonali Kulkarni) on the grounds of medical negligence. With patients pouring in as much as the downpour outside, everyone's on the edge. In all this chaos, a foreign delegation lands in Bombay General Hospital and one of them is Saurav Chandra (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) - the abusive ex-husband of Chitra (Konkana Sen Sharma).

Mumbai Diaries aces in presentation. Piecing together several stories happening in different parts of the city and converging them at the hospital. It can't be compared to any US medical drama and guess that's not the aim here either. That makes this quite unique. The languish pace works perfectly with the storyline which impressively blends the deluge cases with the personal stories of the characters. One never overpowers or sidelines the other keeping you interested in the proceedings.

Even though the quintessential and unnecessary dialogue-baazi gets off-putting at times, Kaushik is not shown as a hero without whom the hospital can't run. The ones left behind manage the influx of patients well and with considerable ease.

The issue lies in the narrative's timeline. This season unfolds in the aftermath of the previous one, taking inspiration from the July 26, 2005, Mumbai crisis when the city battled against submergence and then shifted to the 2017 Elphinstone (now Prabhadevi) railway station footbridge collapse. This chronological inconsistency can be bewildering, detracting from the story's effectiveness and leaving viewers struggling to connect the dots.

Certain scenes seem carelessly included. Kaushik is embroiled in a court case and yet people around him keep making loose statements like 'he could have saved the patient but he didn't'. This can further weaken his case but guess neither the writer nor anybody else understands how this works. Shreya Dhanwanthary's journo turn as Mansi adds nothing new or moving to the scenario. So her triumph doesn't really get your attention. Sandesh Kulkarni Recalls Battling Depression During Mumbai Diaries 26/11 Shoot.

Watch the trailer of Mumbai Diaries season 2

Mohit Raina continues to ace his performance with his brooding, troubled and conflicted Kaushik. Konkana Sen Sharma is extremely expressive which makes her stereotypical scenes quite effectual. Parambrata Chattopadhyay is good but his character lacks depth. The rest of the cast ably guides the story forward.

Final Thoughts

In its second season, Mumbai Diaries delves into another calamity that tests the resilience of Mumbaikars, capturing their struggles and sacrifices effectively. However, the narrative occasionally falters, particularly in the aspect of timeline clarity. Mumbai Diaries streams on Amazon Prime.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 06, 2023 04:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).