After a slow start, Imtiaz Ali’s partition era romantic-drama Main Vaapas Aaunga has made a turnaround at the box office. The film, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Diljit Dosanjh, Sharvari and Vedang Raina, is also receiving praise from all corners of the industry. The latest to celebrate the film is Mahesh Bhatt, who penned a heartfelt note for Imtiaz Ali.
Writing for Variety India, Bhatt shared a note titled “On Thirst and Main Vaapas Aaunga.”
The filmmaker wrote that while some films arrive with fanfare, others quietly leave a lasting impact. “There are films that arrive with drums and trumpets, announcing themselves like conquerors. And there are films that arrive quietly, carrying only the fragile cargo of a human heart. Main Vaapas Aaunga belongs to the latter category.”
He described the film as an act of rebellion against the current cinematic landscape, writing, “We live in an age where cinema is increasingly driven by velocity, spectacle and testosterone. The marketplace rewards certainty, noise and instant gratification. In such a climate, a film that pauses to listen to the deeper movements of the human spirit is almost an act of rebellion.”
Bhatt also spoke about what really resonated with him about the film. “What moved me about Main Vaapas Aaunga is not merely its story. It is the thirst that runs beneath it. The thirst that made a man hanging on a cross utter the words, ‘I thirst.’ The thirst that has haunted seekers, poets, lovers and ordinary human beings since the dawn of time. The thirst to come home. The thirst to be understood. The thirst to discover whether there is something more to life than the identities we spend a lifetime constructing.”
The director also reminisced about his feelings after watching Imtiaz’s 2014 film Highway, which was his daughter Alia Bhatt’s second film. “Years ago, when I watched Highway, I felt that Imtiaz Ali had heard something that many of us had missed. Beneath the surface of that film was the silent scream of violated young girls hidden within the presumed safety of homes and families. It may not have shaken the box office in the manner expected of mainstream successes, but it illuminated a dark corner of our collective life. For that reason alone, it remains important,” he wrote
Bhatt further wrote that Main Vaapas Aaunga raises questions that stay with its viewers. “Cinema, at its most powerful, does not provide answers. It illuminates questions that we secretly carry within ourselves. The audience recognises those questions and, for a few hours, feels less alone. That is what this film seems to have achieved.”
He also wrote that while many had written the film off upon release, audiences have a “mysterious intelligence” as they ultimately embraced it. “Many had declared it dead on arrival. That is often the fate of works that refuse to conform to prevailing fashions. The marketplace is entitled to its verdicts. It speaks the language of numbers, and numbers matter. But audiences possess a mysterious intelligence of their own. Sometimes they recognise authenticity before the experts do. The response to this film suggests that beneath all our cynicism, beneath the noise of our times, there remains a hunger for stories that speak to something deeper than our appetites,” he wrote.
Bhatt also drew parallels between Main Vaapas Aaunga and his own films, saying they were united by “a shared human thirst.” As he wrote, “It was there in Arth, in a woman’s search for a security that no relationship could permanently provide. It was there in Saaransh, in an ageing couple’s willingness to continue living despite the absence of answers. It was there in Zakhm, in the dream of a compassionate and plural India amidst the fires of sectarian hatred.”
He concluded the note by writing, “Watching Main Vaapas Aaunga, I felt that Imtiaz Ali had once again placed his ear against the chest of that longing and listened carefully. Films will come and go. Trends will come and go. Algorithms will come and go. What remains are works that bear the fingerprints of the human being who made them. Main Vaapas Aaunga bears those fingerprints. And for that reason alone, it deserves to be celebrated.”
Not just its storytelling, Main Vaapas Aaunga is also being lauded for its music which has been composed by AR Rahman, with lyrics by Irshad Kamil. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film has collected Rs 47.8 crore nett in India by day 18, while its worldwide gross stands at Rs 73.01 crore.
