Mahesh Bhatt Lauds Imtiaz Ali's Main Vaapas Aaunga, Calls It An 'Act Of Rebellion'

Main Vaapas Aaunga has emerged as a sleeper hit, and the movie directed by Imtiaz Ali continues to impress audiences in theatres. As the movie grows at the box office, Mahesh Bhatt has lauded the Sharvari and Vedang Raina starrer.

While writing for Variety India, Bhatt shared, “There are films that arrive with drums and trumpets, announcing themselves like conquerors. And some films arrive quietly, carrying only the fragile cargo of a human heart. Main Vaapas Aaunga belongs to the latter category.”

“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 further wrote, calling the Imtiaz Ali directorial an “act of rebellion.”

Sharing how Main Vaapas Aaunga is not just a “story,” Bhatt continued, “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.”

Recalling how watching the director’s Highway, starring Alia Bhatt, moved him, Mahesh Bhatt shared that the movie tried to explore what many missed. “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,” he added while talking about the film.

Main Vaapas Aaunga

Directed by Imtiaz Ali, Main Vaapas Aaunga stars Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah,Sharvari, and Vedang Raina in pivotal roles.

The film is produced by Birla Studios and Applause Entertainment, along with Mohit Choudhary and Shibasish Sarkar of Window Seat Films.

Set against the backdrop of personal history and Partition-era memories, the period drama follows 95-year-old Ishar Singh Grewal, played by Naseeruddin Shah, who suffers a stroke while attempting to travel to Sargodha in present-day Pakistan.