An old school romantic comedy set in pre-WhatsApp era enthrals Delhi audience

Written by Manav Kaul, Prem Kabootar is a teenage romance tale set in the pre-online dating era, when the visceral pleasure of a handwritten love letter was relished and owning a bicycle was considered a matter of pride. The story revolves around three BFFs – Salim (Ashutosh Singh Rathore), Sunil (Himanshu Tyagi) and Raju (Amogh Shaakiya) – and Meenakshi (Alqama Khatoon), the girl next door who invariably gets all the male attention.
Salim is an expressive and handsome young man. When not helping his father stitch clothes, he wears his heart on his sleeve and gives it as easily, too. Raju runs a tea stall. Sunil, the son of a journalist, has a way with words. He shares a bittersweet relationship with his father, a strict disciplinarian who takes English tuitions in his spare time.

Himanshu Tyagi and Amogh Shaakiya
As is expected, Salim is the one who ends up confessing his love to Meenakshi first. The twist in the tale comes when Sunil and Raju also fall head over heels in love with her. There comes a point when Sunil has his dosti-ke-liye-qurbaani moment, decides to sacrifice his feelings for Meenakshi, and instead help Raju, on whose behalf, he takes up the painful task of penning a love letter to Meenakshi.
As the play progresses, one comes across some heart-touching moments when Sunil is torn between the loyalty for his friend and his love for Meenakshi.
While putting pen to paper, an overwhelmed, diehard romantic Sunil tries to impress Meenakshi by writing about fictional characters Pappu and his girlfriend. In his imaginary world, he describes Pappu as a sharmila ladka, who has fallen for a girl named Sonakshi and lives in

Peru

gaon. He owns a bicycle and suffers from unrequited love. Meenakshi and a friend take Pappu and his girlfriend to be real people. An exchange of letters ensues, spelling trouble for everyone involved.
A bicycle placed on a raised platform at the centre of the stage is where Meenakshi and her friend sit and discuss neighbourhood boys, and guess the whereabouts of Pappu and his girlfriend.

Ashutosh Singh Rathore, Dharna

Chauhan

and Jyoti Rana

The most attention-worthy facets of the play are the smooth scene-to-scene transition and the great coordination between the cast as they move props from one end of the stage to another.
In a particular scene, the actors set up a mazaar with devotees praying, a beggar seeking alms, and a track playing in the background – Teri rehmaton ka dariya sare aam chal raha hai, mujhe bheek mil rahi hai mera kaam chal raha hai. Mere dil ki dhadkano mein hai shareek naam tera, isi naam ki badaulat mera kaam chal raha hai.
Prem Kabootar is a typical meet-cute story filled with love, mush, warmth, funny one-liners (Prem har insaan ko kabootar bana deta hai) and embarrassing moments that one goes through while in love. It is a sweet, inoffensive romantic story peppered with situational comedy that has its heart in the right place. The powerful performances by the cast reinstate one's faith in love and friendship and takes one to an age where people would wait for love to come in the form of love letters.

Director Sameep Singh