IMTIAZ ALI ON WHY MAIN VAAPAS AAUNGA IS FINDING ITS AUDIENCE SLOWLY

The filmmaker on his latest movie’s slow-burn box office journey, why Gen Z is often misunderstood, and Diljit Dosanjh
Akash Bhatnagar (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 19, 2026)

Even as Main Vaapas Aaunga (MVA) records a gradual uptick at the box office, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali says he always expected the film to find its audience over time rather than through a blockbuster opening.

“We are not a star-driven film, so it was supposed to be like this. If people like it, they will tell others to watch it, and that’s how the film will grow,” he says.

Ali is particularly encouraged by the response from younger viewers, who he believes are yearning for deeper connections. “I feel the younger generation needs love the most. They are sensitive, romantic and seeking commitment, but they are often misunderstood and labelled as flaky. Their lives are different from previous generations, but they are searching for something meaningful,” he says.

Set against the backdrop of Partition, the film intertwines a love story with the lived experiences of survivors. “When I heard their stories of what they’ve seen, what they remember now after 78 years, I realized that no love story can happen in a vacuum. It happens in the real world, and the real world of the era of partition was necessary for the setting of this love story,” says Ali.

He was also unfazed about mounting a large-scale film led by relatively new actors Vedang Raina and Sharvari. “I am a man, not from the trade, but from the art of filmmaking. I do understand the power of cinema and performance, and also the power of good casting. If all those things come together, then there is a certain power that is created. I had no doubt that both these actors will be able to headline this story well,” he says, adding, “But I also knew that on the poster, there is also Diljit (Dosanjh). Everybody in the world knows him and they are interested to see what he’s doing. I was sure that there was going to be a poster appeal because he is there.”

While Imtiaz Ali has made romances across decades, he claims that he “doesn’t come from a point of understanding love”. “In Socha Na Tha (2005), the confusion of Viren (played by actor Abhay Deol) was actually my confusion of committing in a direction but your heart pulling you in another. I didn’t have an answer for that but I made a movie on it. Jab We Met (2007), in my mind, was not even a love story. It is about two people who meet as strangers and eventually become like the other. They complete each other and realize that [they are in love] later,” he says.

Similarly, Main Vaapas Aaunga (MVA) is set up as a love story, but also showcases the ordeal faced by the people of Punjab during the 1947 Partition. Does Ali feel that the film should be made tax free, especially in Punjab? “A lot of people have said that this is a story of Punjab, and also in a way of Bengal and other parts of India. If people feel that way genuinely and if that comment of national interest is out, then there must be a process in these states to see if the film can be made tax free and we’d be looking into it,” he says.

The filmmaker also asserts on the universality of the story, insisting that tragic incidents like the Partition are happening even today, something he brought out with the video of Kya Kamaal Hai in MVA’s end credits. And it was Diljit who pushed for it.

“I must thank him and Irshad (Kamil, lyricist) for encouraging me to make the video. I had never done or seen anything of this sort, but Diljit said, ‘Ye to karna hi hai kyunki ye phir isko sabki film bana dega’,” he shares.