Anna(Madeha Imam) and Ira (Shreya Singh Chaudhary) are two 16 year old teens who are studying in an elite school of Shimla. Their bonding is typical of teen years-full of fun,pranks and experimentation.
Then there is Maya (Manisha Koirala) who lives in a dilapidated bungalow and leads a despondent,lonely existence.Out of sheer curiosity and an act of kindness, Anna and Ira decide to get Maya back to life, by adding some colour to her dreary existence.
They decide on a plan. In their naivete they write her letters in the name of an imaginary suitor from her past. Those letters work their magic by and by. A time comes that Maya gets out of her caged existence (literally by setting free dozens of caged birds kept in her bungalow) and sets off to meet her old lover in New Delhi.
The repetitive screenplay is the spoilsport. Cut out characterisations of supporting cast are no help. Metaphors and symbolism though literal, are able to convey the range from loneliness, the imprisoned with-in existence, to getting free,jettisoning the excess baggage and loving life.
Still Dear Maya is endearing with her message of hope, saying yes to life, getting out of our self made cages, grabbing the moment,and living in now, because who knows what will happen tomorrow.
At present you can say Dear Maya yourself by not writing another love letter but grabbing a ticket at the BO.