Mumbai Diaries Seems To Get It Right

There is something chilling real and disturbing about the way Amazon Prime’s new serial Mumbai Diaries  chronicles the  events  on  night of 26/11 when Mumbai was paralyzed  by a terror attack.

Because  of  the Covid  pandemic  we who are on the safe  side of the battle line, have grown aware  of   how  tough it is for  the front-runners,  the civil warriors  who fight during a crisis often at  the risk of  losing their lives.

In Mumbai Diaries it is the medical  professional on high alert  on the night  of 26/11. I am delighted to see  some   of our best, most underused acting talent playing doctor-doctor with  a fulsome  conviction. There is  the  brilliant  Mohit Raina  who  has been  struggling  to  find his  bearings ever since  he  ceased  to play Lord Shiva. Mohit who  was  decidedly superior to Vicky Kaushal  in spite of his limited   screen time in Uri, is in smacking  good  shape in Mumbai Diaries.

And  Konkona Sen Sharma… such a delightful chameleon  slipping into the doctor’s role here with as much  conviction as she   displayed when she  played  a witch in Ek Thi Dayan. Why does she  do so little work?

Young Satyajit Dubey is a talent waiting to explode on screen.I have seen his work. That guy knows his acting chops a  lot better than the overnight superstars  born with bloody golden  spoons in their mouth  .I hope they gag on them.

Seriously the best part  of watching a webseries  like Pataal Lok, Tandav  or  Mumbai Diaries is the  outflow of genuine talent which gladdens  the heart  in an industry that blindly abides  by the  rules  of nepotism. No two ways  about that.

Also, I am happy to see  Mumbai Diaries  focusing on  the  heroes, the healers rather than  the attackers. Do you remember Ram  Gopal Varma’s  The Attacks Of  26/11 in 2013 ? There was so much of Kasab in it that the sale of Biryani  dropped drastically  on our country. Then   there  was Anthony Maras’ Hotel Mumbai in 2018 where the biggest shockers were  not the terrorists but Dev Patel  trying to pass off as  a Sikh with a turban and beard.

But the classic case  of  a cause  gone kaput was  the 26/11  film called  One Less God in 2017 directed by Liam Worthington where  the  hero came out of besieged Taj Hotel at the  end  to see  people  playing Holi on the streets.

 Holi in November!!!!! Mumbai  Diaries looks like  a rigorously researched  series with its head  on its shoulders and its feet firmly planted  to the ground reality. I am willing to  stick my neck out to say this  will be  another  outright winner  for  Amazon    after the triumph   of that biopic on that other true hero Shershaah.