Main Vaapas Aaunga marks Imtiaz Ali’s comeback to the big screen after almost 6 years. And this time, he has chosen a wide canvas story that deals with the less explored implications of India’s partition. Mounting the movie as a romantic story, Imtiaz Ali entertains you initially, creates a sense of suspense, and then he goes deep into the political layer of the film in the most impactful way. And ultimately, what you get is the kind of emotional hangover you had experienced in movies like Rockstar. Visual storytelling complementing the literary elegance was what made most of Imtiaz Ali’s films memorable, and Main Vaapas Aaunga brings back that side of his storytelling in the grandest way.
Ishar Singh Grewal, aka Keenu, is someone who lived in Sargodha, a city now in Pakistan, and had to leave that place and come to India at the time of partition. After almost 78 years, after getting a stroke, he starts to say a lot of random stuff and act strangely, as if he doesn’t know about partition. What we see here are the things his grandson Nirvair discovers when he realizes that the old man is genuinely trying to communicate something that happened during the traumatic days of partition.
The screenplay’s design is the best thing about this movie. If you try to make it a documentation of the tragic events that happened during partition, it would just be lifeless storytelling. So instead of taking such a linear track, Imtiaz Ali uses the idea of a romantic seeking closure in his love story. So for a larger chunk of the runtime, we as an audience are more invested in knowing how they will make this closure happen. What went wrong in Keenu’s love story is a very predictable, obvious tragedy we can guess from the premise. In the last quarter of the movie, there are some major revelations happening, and in those bits, the movie manages to make us understand the gravity of the cruelty that happened during the separation.
If you have observed the editing style of most of Imtiaz Ali’s films, you will find that they are mostly non-linear. Even the seemingly linear ones would have these flash cuts to the past that would give us glimpses of elements that have shaped the central character. This style, which he has developed with editor Aarti Bajaj, has an integral role in the world-building process. At the beginning of the movie, where we first get a glimpse of Keenu’s love, Jiya, his hallucinated mind sees multiple women, and it is a very subtle setup. Also, the way they have used the symptoms of dementia to create a puzzle for the audience to solve or decode also makes the narrative pretty exciting. Since the health condition is making him a different person altogether, it also becomes a story of what made him this unlikable, stubborn person for many.
Sylvester Fonseca’s cinematography uses soft focus to give a different and vibrant feel to the old days. Some of the in-camera practical effects make certain visuals of Keenu’s hallucinations feel very magical on screen. The album from AR Rahman has a wide spectrum of songs, almost like a tribute to his own filmography. Just like Tamasha and Rockstar, one could relive the whole movie if they go and listen to the album. The way the screenplay has designed the partition as a reason for a major shift in the nature of the main lead was indeed a smart one, and that’s where we are really getting involved in the movie. I loved how stand-up comedy was used to communicate certain facts. The only area that didn’t land smoothly was the way Imtiaz Ali tried to show a Love Aaj Kal using Nirvair and Keenu.
Naseeruddin Shah as the older version of Keenu was fantastic. From being that grumpy and snarky patriarch of the family to showing that passionate love inside that character, he makes that character so lovable. Vedang Raina, as the younger version of that character, is able to portray the energy of the young blood in many areas. But in certain parts where the portrayal is a bit on the theatrical side, we can see him struggling to get the desired pitch. The best performance came from Sharvari as Afsana. The signature confidence and agency we have seen in female leads of Imtiaz Ali films is there in Afsana as well, and with her infectious smile, brimming with confidence, Sharvari shows us why Keenu wanted her so badly. Diljit Dosanjh as Nirvair is pretty much helping the movie here with his face value. It is an integral character, but it is not a challenging one. The bromance between these two characters was fun to watch. Rajat Kapoor and Manish Chaudhary were fine in their respective roles. Danish Pandor is slowly becoming the go-to Pakistani guy for Bollywood.
Clocking at 2 hours and 46 minutes, Main Vaapas Aaunga is a great blend of all that you wish to see in an Imtiaz Ali movie. From enthusiastic romance and subtle humor to depiction of gut-wrenching pain and heartening closure, the story stays with you for all the emotional reasons. And looking at the way Imtiaz Ali has placed the romantic drama in this film, I would say he is perhaps the only filmmaker now who knows how to infuse the signature Hindi film DNA without making it cringe for the modern-day audience.
