Main Wapas Aaunga: Still in Theatres?

Source: Official Poster of Main Wapas Aaunga

I watched Dhamaal 4 in the theatre today. It was a houseful show, as I had expected. People, tired after busy weeks, seemed to be looking for a distraction. But I was utterly surprised to find a Main Wapas Aaunga show. Still in theatres? How? What is wrong with everyone?

I returned to India on June 29 and watched the 9 am Main Wapas Aaunga show on July 2 (a Thursday) amid a hectic week. Knowing that Imtiaz Ali's movies find their audience rather slowly, I was convinced that it would be out of theatres by Friday. Unlike today, there were only 12 people in the theatre that day, including five couples. I booked, and until 8.50 am, mine was the only seat booked. When I arrived, I was happy to find a few people scattered about and a woman, almost my age, sitting on a couch one seat away. As she made herself comfortable, she smiled at me. I smiled, too. Both of us realized that perhaps we were the only ones in this theatre interested in the movie. What followed next, I can never forget, and I did not dare to pour it out until today, for it may reach someone seeking this experience. After all, not everyone gets a chance to go back in time, as Keenu, the protagonist of this movie. 

Main Wapas Aaunga is an intensely emotional and stunningly beautiful ride into the world of love, with short-lived, surreal happiness leading to a long journey of loss and longing. Longing is painful, but addictive; it sustains the journey with a purpose. To put it causally, I loved how someone called it another ‘trauma’ from Imtiaz Ali for our generation. But then, the experience is so powerful that one wants to go through it, just like a very dangerous, massive slide that lands one in the water. 

The movie’s context is India’s partition in 1947. The story revolves around an elderly Sikh man on his deathbed, battling Alzheimer’s and fumbling words to his grandson, who intently hears, trying to connect the dots of his untold story. The setting shifts between the present and the man’s village before partition, where his family, friends, and the woman he loved lived, to whom he promised that he would return! While I admit that if my grandfather were in his place, my loud Punjabi family’s reactions would have been hilarious, and the movie would have been comical. But then, it is the creator’s prerogative, and if Dhamaal 4 could be believed, this one can also be given the benefit of the doubt. 

The visuals stun, shock, and pierce deeply so much that the throat feels full and the eyes swell, perfectly timed by excellent music and lyrics that accentuate the performances and situations. I vividly remember a scene where the red of blood and the blue of a pen merge, staining the chaandbali (moon-shaped earring), depicting how violence destroys. There is not a thing that did not create the magic for me; it was a combination - the story, setting, characters, casting, costumes, sets, performances, lyrics, music, cinematography, and everything else that holds the collective. It may have its limitations, but its charm is in the intricate details. In the movie, Punjab feels Punjab; Punjabis feel Punjabis, and speak Punjabi. Bollywood, mostly, hasn't managed it.

Coming from a family that migrated from Pakistan, I was deeply moved. I remembered my grandparents, the partition stories narrated to us, and the lives they lived with quiet resilience and minimal desires. Although I was in tears for most of the film, I could put together pieces of my own life as I understood the significance of generational trauma. By no means do we need to glorify it, but maybe it needs to be embraced and shared, and subtly celebrated for those who endured it, embodied extreme strength and courage. This way, maybe, we also inherit their strength, stability, and courage to live more fulfilling lives.

As the movie ended, neither of us could get up and eventually had to look into each other's eyes to say, "I know, but it is time to go home."

I was discussing with a close friend that maybe I should not share my feelings and that my writing really makes me vulnerable, but I could not stop myself from writing about this experience because perhaps word of mouth is driving this movie. If this reaches you, and if you have ever loved someone deeply, spend a few hours with this film. There is little point in describing an experience that ultimately has to be lived.

And yes, surprisingly, it is still in theatres!