The registered post service will soon merge with Speed Post from September 1, marking the end of an era, just as letters have stopped featuring in the movies.
Supriya Newar looks at 7 instances of the movies' romance with letters.
Khat Likh De Sawariya Ke Naam from Aaye Din Bahar Ke (1966)
This folkish number is from a time when one needed the trusted postman not just to deliver, but even to write a letter to one's beloved working in the city.
Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe from Kanyadaan (1968)
Poet-lyricist Neeraj's ode to the romance that gets captured in a simple letter.
Daakiya Daak Laaya from Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein (1977)
The Gulzar song celebrates the significance of a postman as he rides through the village on his bicycle, delivering letters.
Tere Khushboo Mein Base Khat from Arth (1982)
The song spells out the preciousness of hand-written letters and how they acquire a poignant testimony to relations that fade away.
While all other songs in Arth are by Kaifi Azmi, this one is by Rahbar.
Chitthi Aayi Hai from Naam (1986)
Penned by Anand Bakshi and sung by Pankaj Udhas, it evokes a sense of longing for one's motherland with the arrival of a letter.
Kabootar Ja Ja Ja from Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)
If one could not avail the service of registered post, there was always the trusted pigeon (always white) who dutifully carries a love note to one's beloved.
Sandese Aate Hain from Border (1999)
Perhaps no one awaits a letter as much as the soldier posted on the border, cut off from his loved ones.
Javed Akhtar captures the magic of a letter that updates the receiver and begs but one question: When will the soldier come home?