Available – Amazon Prime

Time – 35 to 50 mins / episode

Total Episodes – 8 (Season 1)

Total Time – 5 hours 41 mins

Age – 18+

Genre – Drama, suspense, thriller

Recommendation – Definitely watch

 

Based on the horrific events that we collectively know as 26/11, equally dreadful as 9/11 was for America, the series is a must-watch.

Mumbai Dairies is a thriller, with doctors, residents, nurses, and police personnel, in the lead, mainly in the ER of a big hospital. Technically it is not so much of a medical thriller, though a few procedures have been put in to add to the hospital theme (frankly they did not add any value to the series and after watching Grey’s Anatomy and Good Doctor, they feel very childish).

Having said that, the series is definitely one time watch. Mohit Raina was a big attraction for me to select the series. He was absolutely fab in Devon ke Dev Mahadev and then in the small role in Uri. So, to see him for a whole series was a good incentive. And thank god he holds up to his reputation, though the script was weak in certain places which reflected poorly on all the actors, not just him.

The first episode opens with an action scene, and the drama and suspense is carried out well throughout the episode. As a matter of fact, the first 4 episodes are very well made. They are taut, rife with suspense and the urgency and fear and chaos comes across very well. I was completely hooked till then.

But, from the 5th episode onwards things go downhill. Now, I understand what they mean by ‘change in tone’ while writing a story. Till this episode, the story is action-packed, moving along swiftly, and pulling me in by making me feel anger and despair in equal measure for the characters and the actual tragedy itself. For the mindless violence, for the innocent lives lost, for the hours of terror and not knowing if you would live to tell the tale or merely become a number in the number of casualties.

From the 5th episode onwards, they were no longer action-packed but full of melodrama of the lives of the characters along with moral preaching. That simply deflated my excitement and made me forward those parts. That was one thing going for the Dev Patel starer Hotel Mumbai, it was all about the incident and the same tone was carried throughout in the movie. There was no relenting the drama and it kept us on the edge of our seats with tissues in our hands. This is the one big dampener in the series.

Another thing that this series and movies on this tragedy highlight is, I will not call it incompetence, but the inadequacy of our police force. Neither did they have the training nor the firepower to deal with something of this magnitude. However, what they lacked, they made up for it by their mental fortitude and courage.

This is definitely a one-time watch series with certain parts being forwarded. The actors have done their best, though things would have been better if the script had been crisp throughout. But just watch it if for nothing else than to keep the memory of 26/11 fresh in our mind, lest we forget the martyrs of those three days.

 

Lead Image Courtesy – The Indian Express

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