Mumbai Diaries Season 2 Review: A Show Smoothly Sailing Through Genres Yet Sticking To The Idea Of Paying Homage To The Maximum City

Cast: Mohit Raina, Konkona Sen Sharma, Satyajeet Dubey, Natasha Bharadwaj, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Tina Desai, Sonali Kulkarni, and ensemble.

Creator: Nikkhil Advani.

Director: Nikkhil Advani. .

Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video.

Language: Hindi (with subtitles).

Runtime: 8 Episodes, Around 50 Minutes Each.

Mumbai Diaries Season 2 Review: What’s It About:

Over seven months have passed since the devastating nights of 26/11. The staff at Bombay General Hospital is still battling the aftereffects of that war. But rains have a different plan as they immerse Mumbai and leave the city stranded in water. But the doctors are never on leave. It begins yet another fight that they have to win.

Mumbai Diaries Season 2 Review: Script Analysis:

Encapsulating Bombay/Mumbai in a piece of content, regardless of the format, is a task that has been made an attempt at a lot of times. While some formulas worked and became nostalgic, some ended being misfires with a very little to offer. But when Nikkhil Advani, with his able team, decided to look at this city in its testing times through the eyes of the warriors who were fighting from behind the scenes, he discovered gold in that idea and polished it to shine the maximum. With Mumbai Diaries Season 2, which the showrunners are simply calling Mumbai Diaries, he chose to look at and through the Health Workers as they fought in the trembling castle of a government facility.

With Advani serving as the creator with Yash Chhetija and Persis Sodawaterwalla on the screenplay, they managed to keep the idea of their franchise intact. It is not made in order to only worship a city that never sleeps, but also peep into the lives of people that keep it alive. This ends up making this show layered to the extent that every possible ward of this government hospital has a story with a very lucrative arc to offer. This season has to be the most layered piece of content coming out of the Indian OTT space in a very long time. And each layer never fades or taking away the spotlight from another, what makes this IP what it is.

For the Mumbaikars watching Mumbai Diaries Season 2, it is a flashback of the times they have struggled to survive or watch people do it. So, the emotional base is already built in our minds, and the only job Nikkhil and his team have is not to let it tremble. And they are clever enough to do this in a way that they serve a wide range of stories that travel through genres like thriller, survival drama, romance, and much more. But at the center of it is an establishment collapsing metaphorically and literally both. And these doctors, with their personal problems, are trying to hold it on their strong backs. They cleverly built the moment of a collapse of will and determination through their head nurse, Cherian. She never moved emotionally, even an inch in the most severe cases, but when she breaks down by the end, you know a big part of this institution has collapsed.

In a more significant way than season 1, Nikkhil Advani makes a very close to successful attempt at kickstarting some very crucial conversations. He has a trans person struggling to make peace with his identity and convincing his conservative parents about her wish to have a hormone change therapy. There’s a woman trying to tackle her abusive marriage, a doctor in love with his senior and waiting for her with two tickets of Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal (the better one of course) in his hand, a nurse in need of money, the exploitation of kids in a juvenile home.

Mumbai Diaries Season 2 makes you uncomfortable but also makes you realize that some have chosen to live this life for real. The strength is in the very part that it goes in the details of the profession without the fear of making their audience alien. But what the show this time struggles with is the newsroom side of it. There is an entire arc dedicated to it, but it doesn’t land at all.

Mumbai Diaries Season 2 Review: Star Performance:

This has to be one of the best ensembles in an Indian show because no one, not even the supporting cast, is taking their jobs lightly. Mohit Raina continues to bring his A-Game to the table and has a whole lot of emotional depth to him this time. But it is also commendable how he plays from the back seat this time around and gives the rest ample room to have the spotlight that gave him the recognition last time around.

Konkona Sen Sharma can move mountains with a very little force because while her performance looks subtle, the impact of it is never that simple. You feel her fear in your bone, and she makes sure it stays until she blooms into a warrior in a moment that feels like our victory. Her dynamic with Satyajeet Dubey was totally unexpected, and what a treat it was. I hope they had more to do together, though.

Mrunmayee Deshpande deserves this part and even more for the talent she has in her all these years. It is time we have actors like her have the stage with some more brilliant performers like Natasha Bharadwaj, Tina Desai, Adithi Kalkunte, and more. Tina’s acting during her exit from the show is the lost shattering bit this season. I won’t spoil more.

Mumbai Diaries Season 2 Review: Direction & Music:

Nikkhil Advani should rest as a producer for a bit and be the director he always wanted to be and make a movie maybe every year. He has got the craft of making the audience feel the emotions of his story and guide them in the way he wants to. Only a few filmmakers can balance drama and subtlety so well together, and Advani does have that in him. His attention to detail is brilliant because he technically joins two catastrophic events from Mumbai’s History. The July 26 floods and the Elphinston (Prabhadevi) bridge collapse, and they blend well. Also, if you can spot in Mishal Raheja in the final frame of the show and connect the dots to season 1, there’s an Easter egg waiting for you.

The music album and score by Ashutosh Pathak are a surprise and are so good with Niranjan Iyengar’s lyrics. These are the songs that will grow on you and will have a life outside the show, too. Priya Suhass’ production design helps the show become visually wealthy, and the way she builds this falling castle is worth a mention.

Mumbai Diaries Season 2 Review: Last Words:

Mumbai Diaries Season 2 is yet another masterstroke in a franchise with a brilliant first season. Watch it for the spirit of Mumbai and its saviors.

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