Natasha Bharadwaj, who was seen in the JioCinema series Ishq Next Door earlier this year, reprises the role of Dr Diya Parekh in Mumbai Diaries Season 2, directed by Nikkhil Advani. The actress talked to us about the character that fetched her a lot of acclaim after Season 1 and the challenging shoot of Mumbai Diaries Season 2, streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Was it difficult to play Dr Diya Parekh again considering what she went through in Season 1 of Mumbai Diaries?

Natasha Bharadwaj: I think as an actor I live for these moments where I get very complex characters. Dr Diya is a complex character and I gave her skeleton, flesh, blood and life. In Season 2, it was challenging because it is the same character but a person constantly grows and evolves.

I make my characters my best friends. I had a certain Dr Diya in mind and the director also had something similar in his mind. I was glad that my director Nikkhil Advani and I were on the same page.

What were the challenges of filming Season 2? There’s flood, crowd and chaos…

Natasha Bharadwaj: It was extremely challenging and fun. First of all, working in water is not easy. We were always in water, at least ankle-deep. It adds to difficulty levels when you have to be wet constantly. How many times can you change your clothes or footwear? We had to get comfortable with getting wet all the time because the show was about the flood and rain.

Nikkhil sir has kept it very real. Even if there’s a small window through which you see rain, it is real rain. It is not VFX rain. Also, getting Dr Diya’s emotional graph on point was challenging. Nikkhil sir was happy with it, so I think I landed home.

What kind of response have you received so far for Mumbai Diaries Season 2?

Natasha Bharadwaj: I have received some amazing responses. The phone calls I’m getting this time are very different because everyone is calling me with a heavy heart. They didn’t know what to expect in Season 2. Then they got to know that it was about the floods when the trailer came out. Now people have watched the series and loved it. They loved the character of Dr Diya Parekh, which is completely different from how she was in Season 1.

In Season 2, she is dealing with her anxiety and depression in a better way. She is going to therapy. She is not popping pills constantly. She has gone through something very life-altering like losing her mother. Diya picks up the pieces and becomes stronger. She is trying to mend her relationship with her father. Then she also deals with a patient who has identity issues, for which I have got a lot of love.

I am happy to have portrayed such a character that a lot of people have resonated with and felt for. I am happy that the show is doing well and everybody associated with it is being appreciated.

How did the experience of shooting for Mumbai Diaries impact you as an actor and as a person?

Natasha Bharadwaj: On the set of Mumbai Diaries, it is organised chaos. Every scene is planned. You have 150-200 extras other than the actors, so that makes it very complex. The colour palette of the entire show is very dark because when it rains everything looks gloomy. It was a conscious decision of the camera team. So, for us actors, it was extremely important to hit the exact mark to catch the light from where it was coming, otherwise the take couldn’t be used.

There are many one-shots in the show. There’s a seven-minute shot. As an actor, I had to be aware of everything and be super prepared. I felt a lot of responsibility that they shouldn’t have to do the take all over again because of me. Working on Mumbai Diaries was a masterclass for me.

The equation that your character shares with the character played by Mohit Raina in the show is quite interesting.

Natasha Bharadwaj: Mohit and I are super chill. There’s a lot that Dr Diya has to deal with with Dr Kaushik (Mohit Raina) because after a certain point the track is completely outside the hospital with his wife Ananya (Tina Desai), who is expecting a baby. In Season 1, we had a lot to do together but in Season 2, he’s more on the road with his pregnant wife. Mohit is a very cool and fun person to hang with. I appreciate his work. We are always there for each other.

Was there a scene that you were scared to do?

Natasha Bharadwaj: There was one scene with Kalyanee Mulay and Jaimini Pathak that I did towards the end of the show. When I read the script, I remember telling Nikkhil sir that I was scared of that scene and I didn’t know how I was going to do it. He said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.’ And when that day came and I went on set, everything was just flowing. Being part of that scene with Kalyanee and Jamini made it organic. It was quite sensitive of Nikkhil sir to bring an intimacy coach on set so that we could deal with gender identity issues with more sensitivity.

How did you unwind after such a gruelling journey?

Natasha Bharadwaj: I’m so glad you asked me this. The shoot was very overwhelming. When I was shooting for Season 2, after coming home I would wake up in my sleep and do takes. I have done full scenes in my sleep. My mother would tell me about it in the morning but I had no memory of it. I was really into the character and the show that even when I left the set, it was still a part of me.

I had put myself into the character physically, mentally and emotionally, so I had to take a couple of days off after the shoot.

The best way for me to unwind is go horse riding. Being anywhere near nature heals me. So, the first thing I did was go horse riding.

What are some of the series or films you have watched and enjoyed recently?

Natasha Bharadwaj: I thoroughly enjoyed Farzi (Amazon Prime Video) and Scoop (Netflix). I am currently watching Ted Lasso on Apple TV, which is amazing. I am also watching Normal People. I had started watching Guns & Gulaabs but then the Mumbai Diaries promotions started. I’ll finish watching it soon.