Main Vaapas Aaunga Movie Review: Imtiaz Ali Partition Drama Peaks A Little Too Late With Beautiful Closure To Vedang Raina-Sharvari Love Story

At one point in Main Vaapas Aaunga, Diljit Dosanjh’s character Nirvair wonders how his 95-year-old grandfather, Naseeruddin Shah (Ishar AKA Keenu), could remember everything about a girl he met 78 years ago in pre-partition India, but has no memory of his family. Well, our thoughts exactly. But then, this is Imtiaz Ali’s world, where love and longing go above and beyond. In the era of instant hook-ups and break-ups, Main Vaapas Aaunga dares to tell a love story that laughs in the face of time, distance, and borders. The only problem is it takes a little too long to get there.

Main Vaapas Aaunga is a love story that history tried its best to destroy. Keenu, a young Sikh boy (Vedang Raina), falls head over heels for Jiya, a Muslim girl (Sharvari). Their love is young and aware that it may not last. But that doesn’t stop them from making lifelong promises to each other. And eventually, what they feared turns into a painful reality. The Partition of India and Pakistan tears everything apart.

The film moves between two timelines, a young Keenu madly in love, and an old Keenu (Naseer), now 95, holding on to the memory of the girl he never got to marry. There is an unfulfilled promise that is stopping him from leaving the world peacefully. His grandson Nirvair, takes it upon himself to figure out what that is and provide his grandfather with the closure that he so desperately seeks.

The first half of Main Vaapas Aaunga is slow. It spends a lot of time setting up the story, the characters, and the timelines. Every big story needs a strong foundation, but the film takes a little longer than it should to get there. The pacing feels stretched and there will be more than a few moments where you feel like the story is not really going anywhere.

In the second half, the story gets heavier and more painful. The weight of everything that was lost, the love, the years, the what-ifs, starts to sink in. Nirvair’s uncovering of what exactly happened to his family during the partition hits hard. And his quest to finish what his grandfather could not ends with a closure so beautiful and so tender that it reminds you exactly why only Imtiaz Ali could have told this story!

Main Vaapas Aaunga is the kind of film where the story takes centre stage and every actor is a piece that holds it all together. The film primarily belongs to Naseeruddin Shah and Diljit Dosanjh who carry the story forward with quiet and nuanced performances. As a 95-year-old man trapped between memory and longing Naseer is terrific. It is in the small details of his performance that the real magic lies.

Diljit is restrained and relatable. He is a little dull at times but that works in the context of his character. He is essentially the audience’s eyes into this story and so, like us, he appears frustrated, confused, and overwhelmed at different points in the film.

Vedang Raina and Sharvari bring a young and lively energy to the film. Vedang gets to display a wide range of emotions in the second half and handles them with confidence. Sharvari lights up every scene she is in with a vivacious screen presence.

Main Vaapas Aaunga is an Imtiaz Ali masterclass in storytelling. He tells this story without any fear of judgement, weaving together the brutal reality of Partition with a tender love story. The romance at the heart of the film could be seen as morally complicated but Imtiaz Ali has never been interested in the neat rights of love. That has always been his strength.

A tighter and crisper first half would have served the film better in today’s age of short attention spans. But those who stay patient will not be disappointed with the payoff at the end.