‘Musafir Cafe’: An Earthy Relationship Drama Embedded In Frothy Affectations |
Eventually, Sharanya Rajgopal’s Musafir Cafe settles into the cosiness of a novel found in a railway station bookstall. Those unintimidating 200-page paperbacks, which one buys for an overnight journey. Here, it happens in the seventh episode of this eight-episode series.
Sudha (Vedika Pinto) is a pretty, impulsive, recklessly-ambitious girl from Bhopal – a version of a metropolitan idea of a small-town firebrand. The kind who discovered ‘Carpe Diem’ in her adolescence and never looked back. She has a job offer from Mumbai, which she reluctantly accepts.
Unfortunately, she’s in love with Chander (Vikrant Massey), who she met a few months ago, and is currently vacationing with, in Mussoorie. Chander, a US-returned engineer who harbours dreams of owning a cafe on a hill station, is the opposite of Sudha. He’s excited about Mussoorie, his boss has agreed to become his loan guarantor, and he might have also found a business partner.
Sudha hasn’t told Chander about her plans yet. And when she does – he quashes his plans, and talks about moving with her to Mumbai. This disappoints her. In a rather pragmatic moment in the show, Sudha shames Chander for flippantly giving up on his dreams, and choosing to follow her instead. Some of her respect diminishes for him. This scene is what the entire series is building towards – and it reveals a sincere relationship drama embedded within the glossy design of a staple Netflix rom-com.
Based on Divya Prakash Dubey’s novel of the same name, Rajgopal’s series doesn’t begin with the same assurance. There’s an inherent clash between the show’s earthy source material and the frothy, urban Netflix aesthetic (that makes Bhopal look like Andheri).........