'Main Vaapas Aaunga' writer reveals real story behind partition drama

Author and screenwriter Nayanika Mahtani has shared the story behind 'Main Vaapas Aaunga', revealing how director Imtiaz Ali developed the idea for the film. Speaking to Mid-day, she explained that the project became much more than a screenplay. For her, it turned into a deeply personal journey connected to her family's history during the Partition of India.Nayanika Mahtani revealed that all four of her grandparents were refugees during Partition. She said writing the film helped her reconnect with memories and conversations she never had the chance to complete with them.Mahtani said, "For me, this has been such a deeply personal journey because all four of my grandparents were refugees in the Partition. And this was my way of finishing the conversation that I never had the chance to finish with them. So, my last novel, Across the Line, is also rooted in the Partition. I was supposed to write a different story, but that was the story that kept coming to me. I think stories choose us. It was just a chance meeting with Imtiaz in Dehradun, actually, and then in Mussoorie, and I gave him a copy of my book.""And it just so happened that he also had a partition story in mind, and he asked me to write 20-30 pages on his idea. That became Main Vaapas Aaunga. Stories choose the people who are going to tell them. And I feel very fortunate that I was chosen to tell the story because it's so deeply personal."Imtiaz Ali's idea came from a real-life encounterNayanika also revealed the initial concept that Imtiaz Ali shared with her after reading her novel. According to her, the filmmaker wanted to tell the story of an elderly man who longed to return to his ancestral village in Pakistan to complete something left unfinished. That emotional idea eventually became the heart of 'Main Vaapas Aaunga'.She said, "That there was an old man who wanted to go back to Pakistan to his ancestral village to complete something that was unfinished for him. But he is not able to, and he is in his 90s and sick. Imtiaz told me this idea when I made a trip to Mumbai (from London). By then, he had read my book. He told me, "Your Partition story is really nice, but it's not got everything that I want to tell in the story I'm thinking about." That’s when he narrated to me this idea, and we started working on it. I sent him the 20-30 pages on it, and he wrote back, saying, "We are on."I was, of course, thrilled to be telling a Partition story and that too with the sensibility that Imtiaz brings to it, because I was very clear that I didn't want to tell a story where there would be the ‘other’ or the ‘otherness’. I would rather not tell a story than tell that kind of a story. So I was just fortunate that this opportunity came my way.With 'Main Vaapas Aaunga', my question about "what my purpose is" has been answered. I have finished this conversation with my grandparents. And I feel not only for them, but also for the millions of others like them, who never got a chance to tell their story. It was a generation of quiet heroes. They just wordlessly erased their past to build our future. And for them, grief was like a luxury. They were refugees. They had to just look for the next day."The story behind the 'Chaand Baali'Nayanika also explained the origin of one of the film's memorable elements, the "Chaand Baali." She revealed that it was inspired by a real incident involving a close friend from Pakistan and later evolved during discussions with Imtiaz Ali. She said, "So, I have a very good friend in Pakistan. She is an actor. Her name is Nadia Jamil. She once brought me this beautiful pair of Chaand Baalis. I had gone to drop my daughter to her university and ek meri baali wahan gir gayi. I spent about two hours looking for it. I loved it so much.This was so much on my mind that when I gave the first draft to Imtiaz, I had mentioned in it Jiya ki chaand baali gir gayi. He loved the chaand baali aspect of it. He said, "Isko rakhenge, but we will make it fall in kachhi dalan."."A romance set against the backdrop of PartitionDirected by Imtiaz Ali, 'Main Vaapas Aaunga' is a romantic drama set during the aftermath of the 1947 Partition of India. The film stars Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah, Sharvari and Vedang Raina in lead roles. Banita Sandhu, Rajat Kapoor, Sanjay Suri, Anjana Sukhani and Danish Pandor feature in supporting roles. The narrative follows a grandson caring for his ageing grandfather, who is living with dementia. As forgotten memories return, the elderly man revisits a love story that remained unfinished after Partition changed countless lives forever.Give your child the gift of confidence! Claim your exclusive TOI Masterclass spot today!