Takethispunch The film opens into the lives of teenage girls Ana and Ira, students at a convent (Catholic) school in Shimla. They are particularly close and divide their daytime between school and romance novels and boys and, occasionally, sleepovers. They are very intrigued by their reclusive middle-aged neighbor Maya Devi who lives alone in a large house (with her two dogs) and rarely goes out. Ana's mother explains that Maya Devi lost her father early and lived in that house with her uncle and mother. Maya Devi was, and still is, a beautiful girl but her uncle constantly thwarted her marriage (by berating her and chasing away suitors)

suhelhashmi Sunaina Bhatnagar's debut feature Dear Maya, which she has also written, deftly uses 1990s star Manisha Koirala's charming presence to tell her story. In the first half, she sports a de-glam look and nails it. She looks aged, ugly and is almost unrecognizable. In the second half, she is spotted in her beautiful avatar. Apart from Manisha Koirala, newcomers Madiha Imam and Shreya Chaudhary are also seen in lead roles. A protégé of director Imtiaz Ali, Sunaina Bhatnagar assisted her mentor on films like Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal, and Rockstar. The film follows the life of a middle-aged lonely woman from the hill town of Shimla, Maya Devi (Manisha Koirala), who stays alone in a huge bungalow with her two dogs and cages full of birds in Shimla. She leads a desolate existence and never steps out of her courtyard, and spends time making depressing dolls. Her intriguing lifestyle catches the eye of her 16-year old neighbour, Ana (Madiha Imam), and her mischievous bestie, Ira (Shreya Chaudhary). When they learn that Maya has never experienced the love of a man, thanks to the trauma she suffered in the past, Ira convinces Ana to spice her life up by writing love letters in the name of Ved, a fictitious admirer from Maya's past. Reluctant at first, Ana finally caves in and starts writing beautiful letters to Maya. She feels more encouraged when Maya begins to respond to them positively and starts coming out of her shell. However, due to Ira's mistake, one of Maya's letters accidentally features an address from Delhi, making her sell everything and leave for the capital to be with her 'secret lover.' Ana is horrified and wants to go to Maya Devi and confess, but Ira refuses. Guilt-stricken over this, Ana confesses to her parents, who pack her off to a boarding school and she also breaks off her friendship with Ira in the process. Six years later, they, however, reunite to search for Maya, who could or could not be dead by then. Dear Maya is a kind of genre we don't pretty much see in Bollywood these days – a moving human drama that doesn't involve huge twists or shockers, but delves into human relationships and dynamics, without resorting to a Badshah song to spice things up. There are quite a few places in the first half of the film that remind you of Vishal Bharadwaj's 2002 film, Makdee. However, Dear Maya has to be appreciated for the fact that it doesn't stray too much from its subject, and only has a handful of characters for us to think about in the film. There are several interesting moments in the film especially when it shows Maya rediscovering life through the letters, and later through the city. Though Maya lends an air of mysticism to the initial portions of the film, it's when she rediscovers life is where Manisha shines the best. Too bad, the film does not give her appropriate screen time. In fact, more than this being Maya's story, Dear Maya is actually about the two girls revaluating their friendship through the repercussions of their prank on an unsuspecting victim. Not a bad idea, per se. But the problem is we don't feel much for their friendship thanks to some very average writing in these portions. So those moments, when they fight and later reconcile, do not touch you with the same effect as Maya enjoying a sweet dish after many years. Some of their actions also don't make any sense. Like Ana is shown frantically searching for Maya for six years; she calls up radio stations and pastes posters of Maya's everywhere. But at no point, does she even think of visiting a police station, until someone reminds her of doing so. Dear Maya may have an interesting story to tell, but the pace of the narrative is cumbersome and yawn-inducing, and will put you off the movie at several places. The first part of the film seemed a little stretched while the second half of the film is quite scattered. The narration should have been crisper to make the film more interesting. The end of the film could have been even better. As a debutante director Sunaina shows promise and maturity as far as directorial skills are concerned but she needs to hone up on her script writing skills. She succeeds as a director but her screenplay leaves a lot to be desired. Sanjeev Dutta's dialogues are effective. Sayak Bhattacharya's cinematography is amazing. Aarti Bajaj's editing is below average and fails to deliver. Music and background score of the film by Anupam Roy is good and so are Irshad Kamil's lyrics. Though underutilised Manisha Koirala delivers a fine nuanced performance and deserved more screen time then she has been given in the film. Madiha Imam and Shreya Chaudhary, the two newcomers are convincing in their roles. Iravati Harshe, as Ana's mother, is good. The rest of the cast do as required.On the whole, you may watch Dear Maya for Manisha Koirala's enthralling performance.