The clinical drama isn’t always historically a sturdy style for Indian movies and television. None of the Sanjivani shows (2002 and 2019 iterations, plus a 2007 sequel/spin-off collection known as Dill Mill Gaye) turned into a whole lot to write down domestic about, despite the fact that the unique turned into a hit. Kuch Toh Log Kahenge had its moments with Mohnish Behl, however it fizzled out quickly, too.
Which is why I turned into carefully glad whilst Mumbai Diaries 26/eleven (co-directed via way of means of Nikkhil Advani and Nikhil Gonsalves) commenced on a promising note; maverick trauma medical professional Kaushik Oberoi (Mohit Raina) locking horns with seniors and regulation enforcement alike over his loss of admire for protocol. The very premise of trauma surgical treatment being floor 0 in your TV display makes it fantastically clean to conjure high-stakes drama out of nothing, one may want to argue. But the primary few scenes of Mumbai Diaries 26/11 are confident, nearly glib filmmaking: a chilly beginning at Leopold’s Café (mins earlier than the Mumbai terror assaults of 24-26 November, 2008), Aaron Sorkin-esque walk-and-talks at the ‘Bombay General Hospital,’ and masses of skillfully carried out monitoring shots.
And then, withinside the center of an emotionally heavy scene, Dr Sahil Aggarwal (Mishal Raheja) drops the age-vintage Bollywood chestnut: “Hum medical doctor hain, bhagwaan nahi.” (We are medical doctors, now no longer gods) This is the bigger sample Mumbai Diaries 26/eleven follows: it units up morally ambiguous and probably wealthy storylines, simplest to squander them with lazy writing, and paper the gaps with motion sequences (the reality that the tale is ready across the 26/eleven terror assault permits the makers to do that repeatedly).
It is a piece of a disgrace due to the fact the solid works pretty tough throughout: Raina is diligent and correctly brooding as Dr Oberoi, his predilection for the f-phrase has been used intelligently for each comedian and curmudgeonly effect. Mrunmayee Deshpande and Tina Desai are each good, gambling trainee medical doctors of contrasting backgrounds and temperaments. Adithi Kalkunthe as Nurse Vidya Paul and Balaji Gauri as Nuse Cherian are even better, actually.
Moreover, Konkona Sensharma is reliably wonderful as Chitra Das, a non-training medical doctor who’s the top of Social Services at Bombay General. Her person is traumatised, however additionally sturdy-willed and truely dedicated to her convictions. A PTSD scene in an elevator stood out for me, as did her clean canteen repartee with Raina, wherein they each form of slip into lighter, unencumbered, college-technology variations in their characters.
