In the second season of Mumbai Diaries, when Mumbai floods wreak havoc, the staff at BGH must put aside their personal problems and focus on saving as many lives as possible. The series is now streaming on Prime Video.
Story
It has been months since the Mumbai terror attacks, but several people are still recovering. Mrs. Kelkar files a murder case against Kaushik, as she believes that her husband died due to his negligence. Kaushik’s career now depends on the court’s verdict.
On July 26, unprecedented rains flood the city of Mumbai. Worried about the verdict, Kaushik is unable to focus on his patients. Furthermore, his pregnant wife gets stranded in the middle of a flooded road, and Kaushik has to leave the hospital to find her.
Chitra meets someone from her past who brings back all the fear and painful memories that she has been keeping at bay for the past two years. At the same time, Ahaan decides to act on his feelings for Chitra and ask her out on a date.
Diya is still struggling with her mother’s death. She also had to testify in court, and her testimony harmed Kaushik’s case, which turned Diya’s colleagues against her. Then there is Sujata, who ends up fighting with everyone to get her patients the medical attention that they need.
This year, Kailash Jadhav, a corrupt police officer, is sent to BGH to ensure that protocol is being followed at all times. However, Jadhav tries to make a few extra bucks by extorting people and making Vidya steal from the hospital.
This season sees Mansi learning from her mistakes. She is confronted with the bitter truth that makes her realize the kind of journalist she has become. She must decide whether it is too late to change and be better now.
BGH gets flooded, and the staff has to deal with several other issues caused by the floods. There is also the threat of a leptospirosis outbreak. BGH CMO Dr. Subramaniam tries to keep the hospital functioning with Kulkarni breathing down his neck at all times.
Performances
Mohit Raina’s performance is truly praiseworthy. The actor makes his character’s suffering very evident. His anxiety for his wife and his career weighs him down, and one cannot help but sympathize with him.
Konkona Sen Sharma’s performance showcases how talented she is. The actor is able to depict the difference between Chitra of the past and the present. Her approach is delicate, but her performance is powerful.
Similar to the first season, the cast of Mumbai Diaries, including the new additions, gives adequate performances in the second season as well. Some of the actors in minor roles, like Sanjana’s mother, perform their parts very well.
Positives
When disaster hits, Mumbai is seen as a crowded city of faceless and nameless people. However, in the show, these people are represented through characters like Sachin and the midwife who make the audience care about thousands of others.
The show captures the chaos in hospitals and police stations when the city gets flooded and people go missing. The emergency services are ill-equipped to deal with such disasters. The infrastructure failures seem more real than fictional.
The show’s creator tries to depict that the hospital staff is overburdened and overworked due to a lack of resources, and he succeeds. The audience can almost feel the exhaustion and urgency, as the characters who are always occupied jump from one case to another to capture the madness that the staff faces.
When the scenes shift to the newsroom, the camera zooms in on the actors’ faces in a way that makes their conversations look sensational, just like how journalists make everything sensational. This was a good touch.
By now, the audience knows the characters well and is invested in their stories, and the show is able to give them some powerful scenes, like Chitra standing up to a child abuser or Sujata admitting that fighting is all she knows. There are also times when the show will make them fear and even cry for the characters.
Negatives
The season has more subplots than it can manage. It is filled to the brim, and it gets very exhausting at times. Additionally, not every issue gets enough attention, and the result is a bunch of underdeveloped subplots that the show could have done without.
The narrative structure could have been better. It improves towards the end, but if that had happened sooner, the show would have been more engaging.
At some point in the show, the lights go out. The scenes then become so dark that at times it is hard to see what is happening onscreen or how the characters are reacting to various situations. The cinematography definitely does not make the audience’s experience enjoyable.
Verdict
Mumbai Diaries season 2 can get extremely heavy and exhausting, but it will still be liked by those who enjoyed the first season and wanted to see more of the characters.
Mumbai Diaries season 2
Director: Nikkhil Advani
Date Created: 2023-10-06 21:37
3.5
Also Read: Mumbai Diaries season 2 summary and ending explained