Medical dramas on Indian television, barring the odd exception, have focused more on the doctors’ personal lives than professional. Be it Sanjivani or Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, the focus has always been on the doctors, minus their scrubs, lab coats, and stethoscopes. There was the odd Dhadkan in the early 2000s that was more House MD than General Hospital, but it took the proliferation of OTT platforms for there to be stories that dealt with what doctors go through when in the hospitals. If Mumbai Diaries started that, JioCinema’s new series Doctors takes it a few notches higher. (Also read: Sharad Kelkar reflects on being a stammerer to becoming voice of Baahubali: ‘I never thought my voice would be loved’)
What is Doctors about?
Set in a fictitious Mumbai hospital, Doctors is the story of young resident Nitya (Harleen Sethi), who has arrived there to exact revenge against her ‘biggest enemy’ – Dr Ishaan (Sharad Kelkar), the best neurosurgeon in the country. She puts Ishaan responsible for the end of her brother’s career (Aamir Ali), a brilliant neurosurgeon himself. But on this journey of revenge, she meets fellow residents, falls in love, realises the meaning of medicine, and understands what the word doctor stands for.
Doctors ticks all the boxes. The performances are exemplary, the writing is crisp, and the issues it raises are pertinent. Nowhere does the show descend into any sort of sermonising or assume a moral high ground. But what makes Doctors special is the raw naturalness it oozes. It is an introduction to Indian TV in the OTT era, where the melodrama gives way to subtleties.
Creator Siddharth P Malhotra shows more than one quiver in his arrow because it is far removed from the Sanjivani-Dil Mill Gayye universe, as Ardhasatya is from Dabangg. Both have their place, but the universe and genre that Doctors inhabit are something we have seldom seen in India.
The USP of Doctors
Doctors is not unidimensional. It does not just discuss the happenings inside the OTs and the OPDs. It’s more than just medical jargon. We get a glimpse of the lives of the men and women behind the scrubs. However, it is always in context with their identities as doctors or how their profession affects them. Even their romances, identity crises, and addictions are shown with medicine as the much-needed backdrop. It lends authenticity to the show and its universe.
Sharad Kelkar is spectacular. One of the most underrated actors of his generation, he breathes Dr Ishaan, slipping into character as the charming neurosurgeon. His pauses, delivery, and emotions are on point as he shoulders the emotional heft of the show, along with a more-than-capable Harleen Sethi. As the true protagonist, she does well too. Notable mention to Viraf Patell and Vivaan Shah, two actors who go the extra mile to show the humans behind their doctors in the show.
Being a medical drama, Doctors does not shy away from talking about issues that matter, be it euthanasia, substance abuse, the issue of donors getting preferential treatment, and where doctors draw the lines with their patients. Thankfully, it does so without much melodrama or moral judgment. The issues arrive as everyday affairs in our doctors’ lives and are dealt with in the same manner, through dialogue, and not sermons – a refreshing change for Indian content.
Doctors is a palatable, entertaining drama, which makes it even more special. That a show that could have been heavy due to all the surgeries and deaths remains binge-worthy is perhaps its biggest success.
All episodes of Doctors are streaming on JioCinema.