Review: Come, Fall In Love With Vikrant Massey In Musafir Cafe

Musafir Cafe came at the wrong time. When the entire nation is fuming with anger against a system, do we have a minute to pause and think about love and relationships? The protagonist Chander Kumar Sharma (Vikrant Massey) says, there's no right or wrong in love; similarly, a creative product comes with its own destiny. Maybe the time is not ripe, but it will find its audience when the storm subsides.

Based on the novel of the same name by Divya Prakash Dubey, the Netflix series Musafir Cafe doesn't tell an extraordinary tale of love and breakup.

Neither are the characters ones you haven't read about, heard of, or seen before. There's not much happening in the 20-minute-long eight episodes. But the essence of the story lies in its mundaneness, in its everyday approach of telling a boy-meets-girl story and how they navigate love and life while the illusion of marriage beckons.

Written and created by Sharanya Rajgopal, Musafir Cafe doesn't want to paint a rosy picture of love; like the hilly alleys of Mussoorie, the characters don't know what lies ahead. After all, the alleys don't search for answers. They show who we are.

Directed by Ruchir Arun, who has directed some episodes of one of Netflix's most-loved shows, Little Things, the series checks all the tick boxes of telling a modern love story: cafe, traveling, fatigue from corporate life, slow living in the mountains, career vs love, commitment phobia, and so on.

Ruchir Arun doesn't make the show heavy with events. He let it fly riding on the acting calibre of Vikrant Massey, Mahima Makwana and Vedika Pinto.

Chander meets Sudha (Vedika Pinto) on a matrimonial date, set by their families, in Bhopal.

Before meeting him, Chander heard her screaming at a prospective husband at a nearby table. That's the first introduction.

Some cheesy lines, some catchy ones - we know where we are heading with Chander and Sudha.

Sudha makes it clear marriage is not on the cards though she keeps on meeting prospective husbands. Chander rejects her, only to continue the relationship to the next level.

Flash forward: eight years have passed since Chander and Sudha broke up. Chander opens his dream cafe on the hilly terrains of Mussoorie. His present partner is Preeti (Mahima Makwana). The cafe has been named Musafir Cafe - a name Sudha wrote above the sketch of Chander's cafe in his diary eight years ago.

Musafir Cafe is no Little Things (Netflix original) or Permanent Roommates (Amazon Prime original).

Sudha and Chander didn't try to explore the nitty-gritties of a live-in relationship. At least Chander was always clear that he wanted a family, a wife, children. Sudha envisioned a different life for herself as she couldn't see career and love together.

But love was bound to happen. So at the end, when Chander breaks into an emotional scene and confronts Sudha over her choices, he sounds real, genuine and vulnerable.

Chander and Sudha, perhaps, are right in their own ways. It's easy to 'label' Sudha and put her in a box for treating love as a convenience.

But the beauty of Musafir Cafe lies in the fact that such characters do exist. And we have heard about them in our friend, and colleague circles.

While Sudha and Chander navigate the journey on their own, the prism of relationship and its ever-changing dynamics are held up by supporting characters.

For Chander, it's his mother (Anubha Fatehpuria). For Preeti, it's the author and regular at their cafe, Rahil (Rajeev Siddhartha). For Chander and Sudha, it's Mark and Neelima (Adil Hussain and Sadiya Siddiqui).

Career and love are not always at loggerheads; neither does every relationship seek social validation. But Chander and Sudha moved on with their new partners without seeking closure. Is that fair to the new partners?

The simplicity of the story also lies in the single-word naming of each episode: Arrival, Stay, Choice, Trip, Surprise, Truth, Distance and Arrival.

The names of the first and eighth episodes are identical, suggesting a circular journey of the narrative. Flashbacks and flash-forwards lead the narrative; but it's the circular motion of the 'arrival' that shows stories don't end. Only the characters evolve over the years.

Musafir Cafe, a Terribly Tiny Tales production, follows the rulebook of telling a short story. The last two episodes reveal layers of secrets, just like peeling an onion. The end leaves an expectation and an uneasiness about what happened to them. And we don't seek closure.

The music, by Garvit-Priyansh, makes the storytelling compelling, emoting more than the dialogues.

Mahima Makwana, who made her Hindi debut in Salman Khan's Antim, is a surprising presence in the show. Her eyes are eloquent in the emotional scenes, implying her vulnerability as a second love in a man's life. Nishaanchi actor Vedika Pinto's liveliness and charm are synonymous with Sudha. But she is a bit let down in emotional scenes.

Last but not least, how could Sudha leave Chander? Vikrant Massey, the poster boy of lovelorn characters, holds the series on his shoulder with brilliant support from the two female co-stars. Dejected in love, Vikrant Massey - aka Rishu - can turn the world upside down (Hasseen Dillruba, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba). He is broken, but beautiful (IYKYK).

But a mature Chander can handle love and life with dignity.

Come, fall in love with Vikrant Massey, but dare not leave him.

Source: NDTV Trending