In a recent interview, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali spoke about the time in college when he was abducted by a local political gang over a dispute involving a poster.

In a conversation with Unfiltered by Samdish Bhatia, Imtiaz said that when he was in college, student politics on campus at the time was heavily influenced by rival groups, and a disagreement over where a political poster should be displayed soon turned into a confrontation.

“In Delhi, I was once abducted from my hostel by a local gang. At that time, there was the usual NSUI versus ABVP rivalry in universities. Someone had put up a poster on the wall of my hostel. I told them not to put it on the front face of the hostel and instead use the side walls. They deliberately pasted it on the front wall. In front of them, I removed it and put it up on the side. They left,” he said.

“A few days later, around 2 am, one of my hostel mates came and told me to run because those people were coming. They arrived and said, ‘Come with us.’ I asked where, but they had come in a cycle rickshaw to take me away. They made me sit and took me to a government quarter-type place in the university area,” he added.

“They got into an argument, and the gang leader slapped his own man twice for lying to him. That’s how I got away.”

Previously too Imtiaz has spoken about his alma mater. During a visit to DU’s Hindu college in 2017, the filmmaker had reflected on his time there.

“DU taught me a lot and I had good, bad, ugly, romantic, and all kinds of time here. [I did] illegal and shameful things as well, some of which I admitted in front of the principal (Anju Srivastava) today. Many, I will not [talk about] because this is a very strong government,” he had said.

On the work front, his next directorial venture is Main Vaapas Aaunga, featuring Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah, Vedang Raina and Sharvari in key roles. The film is slated to release on June 12.