Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga opened to widespread critical acclaim. However, it had a slow start at the box office. But away from the concerns of the numbers, director Imtiaz Ali is excited to see the younger generation flocking in numbers to the theatres and connecting with the film starring Naseeruddin Shah, Diljit Dosanjh, Sharvari and Vedang Raina.
“In a strange sort of way, I wanted the youth to understand this because the people who are now more than 78, were young people at that time. So it is a youthful film on both parts,” Imtiaz Ali says, adding he admires the openness that this generation possesses. “They don't have preconceived notions. If they connect with something they jump into it, if they don't know about something, they look into it. They are savvy, quick and I'm most excited that they are now turning into theatres to watch the film, and are appreciating it. They are looking at the screen with so much attention and that is really heartwarming for me. I'm most excited about the upturn of the young crowd in cinemas for Main Vaapas Aaunga,” he says.
While the current generation is seen as blunt and flaky, Imtiaz is of a complete opposite opinion. “I feel this is a sensitive generation that reconnects to their grandparents' generation a lot. They have been close to them and they are sympathetic towards them. They try to understand what they were going through in their time and a lot of people that are not even from Punjab and West Bengal, have told me about the thoughts of their grandfathers and grandmothers after watching the film. Some people have said that ‘my time now with my grandparents will be extra special or different because I've seen this film’, and that is very gratifying, as it is connecting them to that previous generation,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}While the current generation is seen as blunt and flaky, Imtiaz is of a complete opposite opinion. “I feel this is a sensitive generation that reconnects to their grandparents' generation a lot. They have been close to them and they are sympathetic towards them. They try to understand what they were going through in their time and a lot of people that are not even from Punjab and West Bengal, have told me about the thoughts of their grandfathers and grandmothers after watching the film. Some people have said that ‘my time now with my grandparents will be extra special or different because I've seen this film’, and that is very gratifying, as it is connecting them to that previous generation,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}Imtiaz adds that the concept of love is also getting a reinvention for them through such stories. “They are enjoying the concept of old-fashioned love, the love where one does not have to negotiate or choose or strategise. The younger generation is also feeling a certain sense of relief from Mai Vaapas Aaunga because it's a very unstrategised love; there is no crowd, there is the ease of just being with one thought, and that feeling of being able to be committed like that is very appeasing and appealing to them,” he insists.