Vikrant Massey, Vedika Pinto and Mahima Makwana are persuasive enough to hold ground even when their on screen actions leave you more flummoxed than fascinated, notes Sukanya Verma.
Key Points
- Musafir Cafe, adapted from Divya Prakash Dubey’s novel, explores two parallel love stories across different timelines, focusing on Chander’s past with Sudha and present with Preeti.
- Despite a pleasant aesthetic and scenic locations, the show suffers from dull chemistry between the leads and a lack of compelling character development, particularly for Preeti.
- The series concludes abruptly, failing to create a compelling cliffhanger or generate anticipation for a potential second season.
In Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Shah Rukh Khan tells Katrina Kaif, ‘Har ishq ka ek waqt hota hai‘ to make sense of their estrangement. It’s as though all of showrunner Sharanya Rajgopal’s Musafir Cafe hinges on this line where two love stories run parallel and reveal the fickle face of modern-day love.
An adaptation of Divya Prakash Dubey’s popular Hinglish novel of the same name, Musafir Cafe travels between now and then as the origins of Chander (Vikrant Massey) and Sudha’s (Vedika Pinto) lovey-dovey past loom over the polite affections between Chander and Preeti (Mahima Makwana) in the present.
One was his love, another is his partner, a distinction observed rather impersonally in Musafir Cafe.
A Tale of Two Timelines
Chander and Sudha rings a bell — Dubey doffs his hat at the star-crossed protagonists of Dr Dharamvir Bharti’s Gunahon Ka Devta while taking a more upbeat approach towards the classic’s lovelorn conclusions.
Set up on a matrimonial date by their respective mums, a sheepish engineer and spirited lawyer meet in Bhopal on the note of rejection but their charming connection insists they continue to see each other.
There’s a flirty, informal vibe to their interactions that lends Sudha’s carefree air and Chander’s bashful submission a believability as they chatter away about family, first loves and aspirations over cups and cups of coffee and chai.
They are as different as Kafka and Jane Austen.
She wants to attain great heights in MumbaI’s law firms. He talks about setting up a dream cafe in the mountains. She doesn’t believe in the institution of marriage. He is okay with anything until his mother insists otherwise.
Lacklustre Chemistry
Flashbacks of Chander and Sudha’s slowly brewing, live-in love story overlaps with Chander now running a successful cafe in Mussoorie along with Preeti, a travel writer he got to know during the pandemic.
We aren’t privy to the conversations that led to their relationship except Preeti’s knowledge of Sudha’s influence in his life. Compared to his previous girlfriend, Chander and Preeti’s equation feels oddly platonic. He hugs her like a dog lover would cuddle a labrador.
Both the timelines include a pestering presence designed to ruffle feathers. Between Sudha’s submissive (Loveleen Mishra) and Chander’s nagging mums (Anubha Fatehpuria), marriage continues to be a sore point. An author’s (Rajeev Siddhartha) cheesy gyaan pops up every now and then, urging Preeti to do better than play second fiddle in her own story.
A Series That Fails to Engage
Directed by Ruchir Arun, nothing much of consequence happens in Musafir Cafe.
It relies entirely on its casual, conversational mood to get things going as love life and life goals collide. But you never get a whiff of the dilemma or confusion the characters are facing. The work scene is so ridiculously understanding of deferring careers on whim, it’s almost as if they are on paid vacation.
As it happens in every confused couple’s case, an elderly, hill-station residing couple (Adil Hussain, Sadiya Siddiqui) share their progressive views on love to shed some light.
Produced by Terribly Tiny Tales and Homemade Stories, Musafir Cafe is pleasant to look at. Lit in warm colours, its scenic surroundings and syrupy melodies create an atmosphere a snugness the dull chemistry between Massey and his ladies cannot.
Working adults worrying like college kids at the prospect of getting caught living under the same roof would feel a little less foolish if their small town psyche was a little more ingrained in the writing. All the ensuing jibber jabber only works if the audience cares enough about the persons behind their gift of gab.
Musafir Cafe has the look of a series but the loquaciousness of a podcast.
When 20-something minute long episodes start feeling like an hour, even interesting ideas lose steam. What comes through is a man’s dream painted superior to a woman’s drive.
Vikrant Massey, Vedika Pinto and Mahima Makwana are persuasive enough to hold ground even when their on screen actions leave you more flummoxed than fascinated.
Where Vedika’s Parineeti Chopra-lite spontaneously makes the most of Sudha’s messy determination, Massey looks more comfortable making coffee than love to his heroines.
Mahima gets the short end of the stick on every front as her Preeti is far too underdeveloped to make any difference to the bigger picture if any.
None of it matters once the show ends as abruptly as it does. Too random to be a cliffhanger. Too tame to make us curious for season two.
Musafir Cafe streams on Netflix.
