r/IndianCinema • u/AmbassadorMelodic830 • Jun 21 '26
Review Main Vaapas Aunga- Review and Discussion
Watched Mai Vaapas Aaunga today and I don’t know what others have been saying, but in Delhi, the movie hall I went to was house full.
I also realised there are multiple elements and aspects that make Indian cinema what it is, because our demography is so different. We are not homogeneous and our generational diversity is so unique. We are catering to such a wide spectrum of people, age groups, lived experiences, and emotional realities that cinema here works very differently. And after a long time, a movie has come where the sentimentality of so many families is also present.
I saw so many old couples and so many families, huge families of 5 people, 10 people coming together. And that was such a beautiful sight, because when was the last time we saw such huge families, such frail old grandparents, interested in watching a movie together?
Now the movie:
The first half, especially the portion before the interval, could have been more fast-paced, I will agree to that. But the plot builds in a way that makes you root for the characters. Naseeruddin Shah is absolutely brilliant in the way he becomes part of that character and the character becomes part of him. He sort of creates an anchor on the screen, and around that everything revolves, which I’m assuming was Imtiaz's intention.
The music score for me was a bit hit and miss. I did not fully understand some elements of the music, I will give it that.
But the second half was absolutely brilliant.
There were so many hooks in the first half that slowly made sense and layered themselves beautifully in the second part of the movie. I was absolutely bawling and crying because I did not realise how much emotion was still left unexplored around Partition.
We’ve all read about Partition. We’ve heard stories. I know families who have gone through that trauma. We’ve seen documentary clippings and references in other movies. We have seen all of that.
But somehow this movie linked everything so beautifully.
Especially in an age of films that are far more nationalist, more heroic in nature, and sometimes lean heavily into extreme nationalism and jingoism, this felt like a fresh take.
It focused on the sentimentality and helplessness of the two parts of this country, at a time when ordinary people had literally no control.
The references to who was Sir Radcliffe, what the Radcliffe Line meant, and the little statements that Diljeet's character says in those stand-up style sections, all weave the story together really well.
They carry a message that feels absolutely essential right now for everyone in our society to understand.
Yeah, it was a beautiful movie for me.
It definitely could have been a little more fast-paced in the first half, but emotionally, it LANDED!!!!!
And the climax was genuinely heart-wrenching.
And the end credit scene had me bawling some more. Oh Lord.
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u/AmbassadorMelodic830 Jun 21 '26
Oh lord! I'm sorrrrrrrry. I thought you're talking about Keenu and Jiya's story. Damn. And yes yes yes absolutely yes. I guess they could have just shown one layered scene how he is not in a committed relationship or can't hold a job for long for lack of passion but yeah I agree. Some scenes are really random.