Imtiaz Ali on ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’: ‘Have never seen an audience watching a film so quietly’
NEW DELHI: Imtiaz Ali knew, each time he picked up a newspaper, that he wanted to connect stories of displacement and destruction to his film Main Vaapas Aaunga.
He eventually shaped that vision into a film that spans past and present, and moves from the subcontinent to the wider world.
“I kept reading that there is destruction, there is battle, and more and more people are being abandoned, becoming refugees and reaching the verge of existence,” Ali told PTI in an interview.I couldn’t help but think that this is exactly what happened during Partition.”
The director, who turned 55 on Tuesday, said one of his greatest birthday gifts was the response to the film, which stars Naseeruddin Shah, Diljit Dosanjh, Vedang Raina and Sharvari. He described audiences—particularly younger viewers—watching the film in near silence and empathising with its story of a 95-year-old man recalling the love he left behind across the border.
The film is told through the memories of an elderly man (Shah), shared with his grandson (Dosanjh), who pieces together a story of As the credits roll, news footage of wars, bombings and global displacement is shown, alongside images of children smiling through hardship. These visuals are set to the song Kya Kamaal Hai, voiced by Dosanjh and composed by A R Rahman.
An anonymous refugee quote also appears: “If I had a choice between death and leaving my home, I would have gladly chosen death. Unfortunately, I did not have such a choice.”It has been a gratifying experience. There is a feeling that what I wanted to say has been communicated. I have never seen an audience watching a film so quietly,” he said.I have said many times that the present generation feels a little lost because they do not find sustaining love—something they can hold in their hearts, that old-fashioned love, like old music. That longing, that yearning, that holding one person and being with them—they are relating to that,” he said.
The film, he added, explores intergenerational connections needed to make sense of the present.He added that there was no budget for the sequence, so funds were taken from the publicity budget. “But I wanted to do it, and Diljit wanted to do it. We shot it quickly,” he said.
Ali said cinema remains permanent and serves as a record of human experience.
He added that he deliberately avoided over-emphasising the emotional moments in the film.
“The situation 78 years ago was different, and people had to be a certain way to survive. Now Nirvair (Dosanjh) has the mental space to reconnect, and he should, otherwise he will never feel whole
“In all my successful films, people tend to fidget. This time, they are really paying attention. Younger audiences are coming in large numbers and responding very positively.”