Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, in a recent interview, spoke about the origins of his stories, sharing that they often stem from daydreams and random musings.
Ali’s latest Main Vaapas Aaunga, starring Vedang Raina, Sharvari and Naseeruddin Shah, hit theatres Friday.
Speaking to PTI, Ali said that once a story idea takes root, he shares it with people around him, often looking for opportunities to narrate it, even during autorickshaw rides.
“Some ideas, like an infection in the body, keep building and building. And more and more parts get added to that imagination. And (it) starts acquiring the shape of a story. And then it becomes something that has to be ejected from the system because I find myself talking about that story to everybody.”
Asked whether he draws from a personal well of experiences for his stories, Ali said his imagination is fueled more by daydreaming than anything else.
Calling himself a lifelong daydreamer, he said ideas often begin with a chance encounter or observation and continue to evolve long after the moment has passed.
“Then there comes a point when I finally sit down and write it,” Ali noted.
“As Ghalib said, ‘Aate hain ghaib se ye mazamin khayaal mein (All that I am writing stems from the invisible)’. We don’t know where these stories come from, mostly from the subconscious. But I feel that I get inspired by things that I see around me. And I build my imagination there on,” Ali further shared.
Speaking about drawing inspiration for Main Vaapas Aaunga, Ali shared that the film took shape from conversations with Partition survivors he met while shooting in Delhi and Punjab.
“I think about what might have happened, where could they have gone… who lives in that house I look at from a train, when it stops at Ratlam station and things like that. And these stories add up.”
Ali is known for films like Love Aaj Kal, Rockstar, Highway, Tamasha and Jab We Met.
In Main Vaapas Aaunga, Naseeruddin Shah plays an ageing man who is unable to get over the memories of a woman he loved and lost during the Partition of India in 1947. As he lies on his deathbed, longing for one final reunion, his grandson (Diljit Dosanjh) attempts to piece together the unfinished love story his grandfather is desperately trying to recount.
Sharvari stars as the younger version of Shah’s lost love, while Vedang Raina essays the younger version of Shah’s character.
The film’s trailer, released in May, offered a glimpse into the emotional cross-border tale.