Playing Dr Diya Parekh in 'Mumbai Diaries'

From living through 26/11 to acting in a show inspired by the dreadful events, life’s come a full circle for Natasha Bhardwaj

Mumbai Diaries 26/11’ is not your average medical TV drama about cracking difficult surgeries or overcoming hospital politics. Here, the doctors and staff of a government hospital are faced with the dilemma of treating a terrorist, who has bombed their city and people. The show is a fictionalised account of the deadly Mumbai terror attacks of 2008.

Natasha Bhardwaj tells Metrolife how she got into the skin of the character of Dr Diya Parekh, a first-year surgical resident, in this Amazon Prime series. Edited excerpts from the interview.

Your mother is a doctor. Did that help you to prep for the role?

Yes, I was lucky that way. I have grown up around a lot of medical staff, and visited many hospitals. I remember I used to play with the microscope and slides while I waited for my mother to finish the operation. By just being in the hospital environment, I was able to learn quite a bit about the field of medicine.

Did your mother work in the trauma department like your character?

My mother has worked in a lot of departments, including the emergency. I don’t want to single out one incident but there is a good reason why doctors are considered next to god. I don’t think a common person can do what a doctor does – leave all his/her worries and take care of patients no matter what. My heart sinks every time my mother tells me hospital stories. A scene you connected the most with. In one scene, my character calls her mother on the phone and tells her to leave the Palace Hotel (at Taj) because it’s under a terrorist attack. On the day of the 26/11 attack, my mother was outside, working in a hospital. The news was rife that explosive materials had been planted in the local trains, which my mother used to commute in. I was in Class 5 or 6 then and I was worried about how my mother would come back. It would usually take one hour one-way but that day she took three hours to reach home.

Did you shoot during the pandemic? What challenges did you face?

I shot for the show before the pandemic broke out. In terms of challenges, we had to go through a lot of workshops under real doctors. For instance, Dr Sheikh (full name, from which hospital) taught us medical terms and how to perform stitches, among others. It’s a medical drama and it must look real. I worked a lot on my character. Dr Diya is complex. Others think that it’s her grandfather’s hospital and so, she is fighting hard to create a name for herself, on her terms. But in reality, she is battling anxiety and depression. (Despite being a doctor), she hasn’t been able to normalise it and talk about it openly.

Has ‘Mumbai Diaries’ (directed by Nikkhil Advani of ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ fame) boosted your career?

‘Mumbai Diaries’ surely gave me a chance to play Dr Diya Parekh, which has an interesting character arch. But it was India’s Next Superstars (a talent hunt reality TV show) that helped me grow as an actor. I won that show. I was mentored by some brilliant people. I got to explore different characters.