Hospital drama in India have been popular but so few have been created. The ones that were, had less to do with hospitals and more to do with individuals. The best one I had seen and still remember something about is \’Lifeline\’. I still remember the title music by Vanraj Bhatia. In case you are wondering, it was on Doordarshan (yes the golden days when DD had awesome content). It looked like a real hospital and the characters (both doctors and patients) were believable.

Then there was Pakistani serial \’Dhoop Kinare\’ which was thoroughly enjoyable (again less about hospital and more about relationship between a young doctor and her senior). In between there was Sanjeevani which I haven\’t seen (I believe it was inspired by Dhoop Kinare) and then there was one with title Hospital but it was more about a journalist trying to expose wrongdoings going on and less about the hospital.

The 26/11 terrorist attacks has so far been seen from the eyes of cops, from Taj hotel staff member and now we have the doctor\’s side of the attack in the latest web series available on Amazon Prime – Mumbai Diaries 26/11. Interestingly, all the versions cover the attacks but the focus remains on whose version it is. So the first installment focussed on police version of the attack and it\’s aftermath, the Taj hotel was about attack on hotel and how this staff member saves lives of hotel guests.

Some thirteen years after the November 26, 2008 attack we get the doctor version of it. Like 9/11, this attack was widely covered on television (too much of it, if you ask me) but more on that some other time. While the other two versions were based on real life characters, I don\’t know if it\’s based on real life doctors present that day.

The plot

Since we all know about the attack and the plot and those behind it, there is nothing much to add. But this series is based on what happened at the hospital on that fateful day and creates the ground for what will happen in the night. So we have three fresh doctors who report to join as trainee doctor. There is no shortage of characters here and hospital also becomes a character. With other normal serials, the space where it is played out has little to contribute. But when it\’s about hospital, it becomes a character too. Unlike the spic and span hospitals which have been part of other serials, the Bombay General Hospital in this series, is as sarkari as any govt hospital could be. Overworked doctors, shortage of supplies and those stained walls – you get the perfect hospital setting.

Characters

As I said, there is no shortage of characters in this series. Bad thing is they all have a background story. But the good thing is it applies only to the hospital staff or couple of patients. Else it would have been endless series instead of just eight episodes. So there is Dr Kaushik who is head of trauma department and he has a team of nurses, attendants and the three trainee doctors who join him on the fateful day.

There is also the CMO and director social services played by Konkona Sen Sharma who is not a qualified doctor. There is just one patient who is there from the first episode till the last – one septuagenarian Punjabi lady. There are more patients but she is the only one writer could give some sort of flesh and bone.

There is a bad cop too who is after the good doc for not following the due process of informing the police about cases that should be reported. He is as foul mouthed as police characters get and he is also after a nurse for…

Since it\’s a sarkari hospital so things are in short supply but the canteen has fruit salad to offer. There is no link but just wanted to mention this. It gives you fair and not so lovely amount of idea that stage is set.

Before the terrorist storm the hospital, background stories of all the main docs (old and new both) needs to be set up. So before the terror unfolds we get to know about these characters and what all is wrong with their lives. Sounds like a regular soap opera where something or other is wrong day after day? The busy doc has no time for his wife, the pampered kid of doctor couple doesn\’t like all the attention, another trainee doc has typical middle class background where her parents ask her to offer sweets to her senior, the nurse couple is trying hard to offer a better life to their kids and hubby is selling hospital secrets to journos. Did I miss something? Oh yes. Communal harmony – we need to have a Muslim character too to complete the script and here he is in form of the male trainee doctor. The recipe looks complete. The scriptwriter managed to finish it in eight episodes nahin toh there was ample scope for extra marital angle as well. A bolder script writer would have introduced a gay/lesbian angle too. Blame it on short and sweet series.

Performance

To be fair to the actors, they have done a good job. It\’s not your run of the mill kinda set up where you look good and mouth few lines and done. They had to learn procedures and mouth what a doctor would. So good job by all.

Except Mohit Raina, there is no one else that stays with you. He is not there in every frame but whenever he is there, he just steals the show. Konkona Sen Sharma plays her part perfectly, like she always does.

Shreya Dhanwanthari as TV journalist chasing exclusives is superb. Having played print journalist in Scam and TV journalist in Mumbai Diaries 26/11, she is learning journalism on the job.

Writing

The first and may be the second episode manage to hold your attention. But third episode onwards it\’s downward journey as far as writing is considered. The tension which should be part of hospital drama is missing and the writers seem to have lost plot. Bits and pieces manage to hold it together but a better script could have done wonders. Watch Scam or Delhi Crime, again if you have already, to know what I mean.

There is scene in episode seven where doctor needs to operate upon a patient and there is some senti line thrown in by one of character. It was supposed to be rather emotional high point, choking and tears welled up kind of scene. But nothing happens. For a person who gets emotionally invested rather easily, I was completely not interested in whatever was happening. Like Mohit Raina in the last episode who looks at one of trainee crying over a dead body and pleading for help.

There is another scene which is so so filmy. One character has to call his wife using mobile of another character. Unable to reach, he tries to message to only discover a secret on the mobile. I have tried not to give away too much info by smartly omitting the names. 🙂

Verdict

As mentioned in the beginning, I began watching this series hoping to get a good hospital drama (even after knowing the story). But was let down by poor writing, which is often the case these days. And why the hell we cannot have series without the F word and reference to ladies? The docs use F word like there is no tomorrow and the less said about the gaalis the better. It\’s actually my pet peeve with content creators. I also realised that there is hardly any series without these words. Like writers who use these words in any and every situation, the viewers have also started treating it as normal. (Angry face).

There is lot of blood and gory cuts, stitches and shots of human organs. So if blood is not what you like to see, you can give it a miss. Otherwise watch it for Mohit Raina and hope he gets better scripts.