Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
At the time of writing this, ‘Musafir Cafe’ had a 7.6 rating on IMDB, as you can see in the cover picture of this post. I’ve already written a mostly spoiler-free review of the show, you can either read that or listen to an audio version embedded below. Because this write-up contains MAJOR SPOILERS.
But before I get to all the reasons why I rated it 2.5 stars out of 5, which for me translates to ‘watchable’, here’s the gist of my original review: the lead actors are fantastic in their roles, the cinematography is beautiful, warm, memorable, and even the music is nice.
So why did I rate ‘Musafir Cafe’ 2.5 stars on 5? Well, for starters, the title and settings made me expect a ‘feel good’ show about love, heartbreak, and following your dreams. Where the eventual ending would leave you feeling happy and content. That wasn’t the case here.
The plot for Musafir Cafe follows Chander, who runs the beautiful ‘Musafir Cafe’ with his partner Preeti in Mussorie. It’s a lovely, cozy property, and Preeti also plans to start a writers’ retreat there. In flashbacks, we find out that Chander got the name from his ex-girlfriend Sudha Tripathi. The two of them meet in Bhopal as part of an ‘arranged marriage’ meeting, when Chander had a more conventional office job, and Sudha was a divorce lawyer.
Sudha explicitly clarifies to Chander that she has no interest in getting married and dreams of moving to Mumbai to open her own law firm, so that she can help support her widowed mother. However, she finds Chander charming, and a little different from the other men, so the two start dating.
Their short-lived romance is very cute, but they’re forced to break up because Sudha gets a job in Mumbai and doesn’t want Chander to follow her to the big city. She pushes him to pursue his dreams of opening a cafe and breaks up with him. Heartbroken, a drunken Chander calls up Sudha and ends up talking and ranting to her mother, crossing a fine line. Which understandably angers Sudha and she tells him never to contact her ever again.
In the current timeline, Chander is happily running ‘Musafir Cafe’ with Preeti, a likable young woman who is hardworking, kind, and talented. However, she seems to be quite insecure about Chander and worried he might just go back to Sudha, despite being with him for five years. And while the show tries to portray they have a loving, mature bond where they share everything, clearly they don’t communicate enough to put Preeti’s heart at ease.
When Sudha does in-fact show up at Musafir Cafe in the climactic episode, Preeti even says that Chander hasn’t told her everything. Then the cliffhanger ends in a way that indicates that Chander might in-fact choose Sudha over Preeti. A final choice is not made. WTF?
Chander had five years to apologize to Sudha for the rash call he made in a drunken stupor, but ego and cowardice stop him. Sudha too had five years to get her closure, if that’s what she needed. ‘Musafir Cafe’ could’ve been a show where Chander’s two love stories could’ve had their own places, but instead, despite the scenic visuals and good background score, the truth is, he hasn’t really grown up or moved on. He makes his partner feels second to the specter of an ex-girlfriend. And as for Sudha, who kept harping about following dreams, why is she still mooning over a man she barely dated for a few months?
And it’s not that I have a problem with flawed characters or people making mistakes. Far from that. For example, I LOVED the Netflix show ‘Beef’, which is all about two crazy unlikable people giving each other hell. The trailer for Beef teased the same concept. For me, rating a show/movie/book’s likability is based on whether it delivers what it promises. Which is why, my rating for supernatural horror movies (also my favorite genre) are almost always higher than the average viewer rating on public platforms. Expecting too much logic in a film about ghosts is pointless.
The Musafir Cafe teaser, meanwhile, features a gentle, sweet song with an acoustic guitar in the background and leads you to believe this is going to be a show about traveling, making friends, and finding love. There’s even a dialogue that asks, “Who says true love is right for us?”, suggesting that maybe the story is going to show us there’s more to life than romantic love. It doesn’t. LOL.
Ultimately, it comes down to this for me: Nobody would ever want to be Preeti. Imagine spending five years with someone and still feeling like an ex could walk through the door tomorrow and make your entire relationship expendable. That’s not romantic longing to me; that’s an exhausting relationship.
And that’s why Musafir Cafe frustrated me so much. This could’ve been a lovely feel-good story about heartbreak, healing, following your dreams, and realizing that moving on doesn’t diminish the love you once had. Instead, it’s a good-looking show about two exes who haven’t moved on and the current partners who get caught in their mess. Sudha’s boyfriend hasn’t even appeared yet because his story is being saved for Season 2. Which, well, they can enjoy without me.
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