Main Vaapas Aaunga

“This film doesn't belong to Diljit Dosanjh, but to Naseeruddin Shah's superbly-judged performance, high-pitched yet never quite tipping into grating melodrama.”

“After a long dry spell, Hindi cinema finally delivers a profound love story that will leave your heart racing and your eyes moist long after you step out of the theater. The narrative delicately balances heavy themes, the trauma of refugee families, the agony of separation, and the vulnerability of dementia, all while keeping its central love story intact.”

“Main Vaapas Aaunga adds to the tally, but in terms of cinematic and artistic caliber, it must rank above most such sagas. The script is all heart (and all art!) from beginning to end. The implications on normal human beings of the lacerations initiated by the British are scathingly moving and can bring lumps in the throat and tears to the susceptible viewer.”

“Main Vaapas Aaunga is packed with love, loss, longing and hope. It is emotional and heartbreaking. This is the kind of film that stays with you long after the credits roll.”

“A devastatingly political film wrapped in an Imtiaz Ali fable/romance. Main Vaapas Aaunga is praised as a poignant, non-partisan Partition romance that blends love, memory, and loss with political nuance.”

“Main Vaapas Aaunga's unwavering belief in love is a testament to cinema's uplifting gifts. Main Vaapas Aaunga is a rare gem where they retain their innocence, not quite comprehending the seriousness of the situation as if reacting in real-time as opposed to from a place of knowledge.”

“Naseeruddin Shah, Diljit Dosanjh, Sharvari and Vedang Raina starrer is a romantic-drama sprinkling the love and understanding we need in these divided times”

“The surprise package in the Partition drama is Sharvari who nails the brief as coy and resolute Afsana”

“There are some wounds that history records in textbooks and others that continue to live inside families for generations. The Partition of India is one such wound. Long after the maps were redrawn and new borders were established, millions were left carrying memories of homes they could never return to, people they would never see again and lives that were abruptly interrupted.”

“At this point, too many Hindi films look like they were run through the same Instagram filter: so ultra-smooth and polished, it barely resembles the real world. It leaves the film without any personality. The question arises: has Imtiaz Ali succumbed to it too?”

“Imtiaz Ali’s signature poetic and deeply emotional storytelling, along with the powerful performances, make this a must-watch. The film’s bittersweet ache stays with you long after the credits roll.”

“What holds Main Vaapas Aaunga back is the screenplay. The dual timelines never quite flow into each other organically and the pacing makes the film feel like a long, slow climb. And yet, for anyone who has ever read Rumi on a sleepless night or found themselves undone by an Amrita Pritam poem, Main Vaapas Aaunga has a soulfulness that quietly gets under your skin and into the rhythm of your heart beats.”

“After Amar Singh Chamkila (2024), when filmmaker Imtiaz Ali teams again with Diljit Dosanjh, does he tell another story set in Punjab that holds you spellbound? Lehren watches and reports.”

“Imtiaz Ali's Main Vaapas Aaunga follows a grandson decoding his dying grandfather's Partition memories. The film reaches for grief and belonging, but its pacing and politics blunt the impact.”

“Diljit Dosanjh and Naseeruddin Shah lead this bittersweet study of displacement. There is no nation here, only people. So the violence arrives not from one community but from history behaving like an uncontrollable force.”

“Imtiaz Ali Returns With A Euphoric Ode to Humanity”

“Main Vaapas Aaunga blends romance, nostalgia and Partition trauma into a heartfelt tale of lost love. With strong performances by Naseeruddin Shah, Vedang Raina and Diljit Dosanjh, the film's climax leaves you emotionally charged.”

“Imtiaz Ali's Main Vaapas Aaunga offers a timely and thoughtful counter to the spate of hyper-jingoistic films currently flooding Bollywood. When history's borders are being redrawn in the heart, Ali has made a film against the current—one that seeks to remind people that a collective trauma demands contemplation, not a justification for renewed hatred.”

“A sweeping, bittersweet examination of displacement, Main Vaapas Aaunga is a timely, intimate, poetic character study about how geopolitical lines permanently alter the trajectory of human hearts. The creative synergy between Shah and Imtiaz lends the thought a powerful emotional heartbeat, with Shah's performance transforming what could have been a standard framing device into a profound meditation on old age and lingering grief that tears you up.”

“Imtiaz Ali's directorial is not just a film, it's a letter or rather poetry on love!”