4 min readJul 24, 2026 01:56 PM IST
Musafir Cafe review: A three-way modern romance set in a small town. That’s the pitchline of Musafir Cafe, based on a novel of the same name by Divya Prakash Dubey, created by Sharanya Rajgopal and directed by Ruchir Arun, and the eight-part show takes the memo very seriously indeed. Chander and Sudha — someone here is evidently a fan of Dharamveer Bharati’s classic novel of the same name — meet and ignite in Bhopal.
Having quit his software job in the US, he works in a dull government office, nursing a dream of opening his own cafe in the hills, while meeting suitable girls with a view to marriage.
She is your ambitious girl who never hides anything she’s thinking, outspoken in the way Bollywood chulbulis are: Sudha, like that other girl in the train, is her own favourite, and doesn’t care who knows it.
There’s passion. There’s a bit of sexn — yes, really — too. Small town people aren’t squeamish like that, okay? All is well, until ambition rears its ugly head. So, a rift in the lute. Time elapses. And then, bingo, there comes that picturesque cafe, blue skies, misty hills, and a generous-hearted girl called Preeti.
But, but, is that that? Will Chander and Preeti live happily ever after? Even though good-looking guests make puppy eyes at Preeti, knowing full well that her heart beats for another? And even though she knows, yes, she does, that Chander hasn’t forgotten his first love ?
Musafir Cafe trailer:
Musafir Cafe is that rom com that is aiming for sweet and winsome, which should have left you with the warm fuzzies. But it doesn’t quite get there. Not because the actors aren’t up for it. Not because they don’t try. Not because the plot doesn’t have room for all of them. But because it ends up being more performative than felt.
Vikrant Massey as Chander tries his best to be believable, and he really does come close to it. Mahima Makwana as the steady third wheel is commendable too, even though she gets short shrift when it comes to a back story. It is the spritely Vedika Pinto, who acts out her part, for no fault of hers: the writers keep putting her in front of a man whose jaw keeps dropping at her carefree airs. ‘Kya ho tum,’ he says in amazement, not once, but twice, and maybe thrice. And by then, our Sudha believes in it too: that she’s too cool for school, and certainly for the sedate Chander.
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There are also a bunch of excellent actors with very little to do but play out ropes: Anubha Fatehpuriya as Chander’s mother, Loveleen Mishra as Sudha’s mother, and Adil Hussain-and-Sadiya Siddiqui as the still madly-in-love silver- haired couple as Chander and Preeti’s mentors and well-wishers.
Why does it take eight stretched episodes to tell a tale that would have been better told in half the time? Why is the serene city of Bhopal such a fleeting presence– the famed lake glimpsed from a terrace cafe– even though it’s named frequently through the show? Those are also questions which this could-have-been-a-pyaari-prem kahani don’t answer well enough.
Musafir Cafe cast: Vikrant Massey, Vedika Pinto, Mahima Makwana, Rajeev Siddhartha, Anubha Fatehpuriya, Loveleen Mishra, Sadia Siddiqui
Musafir Cafe director: Ruchir Arun
Musafir Cafe rating: 2.5 stars
