Romance Disrupted by India/Pakistan Partition

 After WW II, England prompted by rebel forces and their own economic difficulties decided to get out of India.  As planning began Muslims made a strong demand for their own country.  This complication was handled expeditiously with little concern as to how complicated it was.  It was easy enough to draw lines creating two parts to Pakistan out of India.  The problem was that Hindus and Muslims were spread across the lines and little attention paid to the Sikhs who were also distributed on both sides of the line.

"Main Vaapas Aaunga" (2026) is spread over about 80 years.  We see a bedridden man suffering from a stroke, heart concerns and creeping dementia.  A grandson is visiting India from England.  Death seems approaching and the old man is rambling and for some reason the grandson pays more attention to the words of a dying man than all the other relatives.  

The viewer is taken to what the old man is trying to articulate going back to just before Partition and his relationship with his love.  He is a Sikh and assures her he is not leaving despite rumours of Partition. One joke was they could both convert to Christianity and get married in a church.  Keenu, to reassure Jiya has her name tattooed on his wrist which we can also view on the old man's wrist.

We are shown men fleeing and many not able to board extremely overcrowded trains.  We see enemies killing the Sikhs with Keenu barely escaping.  More frightening is the plight of the women following who were separated by mutual agreement as it was thought they would slow the men down.  However as enemies (could have been Muslims or Hindus) the women realized they not only could be beaten, but also raped.  Young girls had their hair cut to appear as boys, but as the fear became more imminent some girls had their throats slit to avoid the shame.

The old man gradually makes sense to the grandson while the rest of the family just feels his dementia is getting worse.  We learn that Keenu had made an early attempt to revisit his lover, but was discouraged about the prospects of her being alive.  Still as he approaches death he retains hope and the desire to read a poem he wrote for her.  We see a grandson wanting to help and the old man deteriorating.  I will leave it there.

Another theme was the grandson had become a Non Resident Indian, but not one able to hold down a job.  He marvels at his grandfather's desire to go home and wonders if that is something he has lost.

"Main Vaapas Aaunga" is likely to be involved with awards as it has a lot of top notch cast and crew.  Here are some of them.

Imtiaz Ali was director and script writer.  He has 18 writing credits, 11 directing and 6 for producing. including "Ahista Ahista" (2006),  "Love Aaj Kal" (2009), "Jab We Met" (2007), "Rockstar" (2011), "Highway" (2014), "Tamasha" (2015) and "Amar Singh Chamkila" (2023)  Check   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/04/amar-singh-chamkila-used-dirty.html

A.R. Rahman provided the music.  He had done commercial jingles when Mani Ratman invited him to write for a film "Roja" (1992).  I had not realized that Rahman wrote for the Tamil market, but has expanded to Bollywood,  American, English etc.  With the encouragement of  Andrew Lloyd Webber he wrote for a stage musical, "Bombay Dreams" that had long runs in both London and New York.  He has 221 composing credits and 90 for the music department (often backup singer) including "Bombay" (1995), "Fire" (1996), "Lagaan Once Upon a Time in India" (2001), "Swades" (2004), "Water" (2005), "Rang de Basanti" (2006), "Ghajini" (2008), "Slum Dog Millionaire" (2008), "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" (2012), "Highway" (2014), "100 Foot Journey" (2014) "Tamasha" (2015) "The Goat Life" (2024) and Maidaan (2024)   Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/07/the-making-of-laga and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/08/the-goat life.html  and   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/06/maidaan.html  Elsewhere Rahman had commented that he often gives producers a difficult time in order to get what he wants and feels the film benefits. 

Sylvester Fonseca was the cinematographer.  He has 32 cinematography credits and 2 for the camera &  electrical department including "Sacred Games" (2018-19) and "Amar Singh Chamkila" (2023).

Aarti Bajaj was the editor.  She has 56 editor credits including "Jab We Met" (2010), "Udann" (2010), "Karthik Calling Karthik" (2011), "No One Killed Jessica" (2011), "Ishaqzaade" (2012), "Highway" (2014), "Tamasha" (2025) and "Amar Singh Chamkila" (2023).   See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/02/tamasha-wonderful-story.html

Naseeruddin Shah played Ishar Singh Grewal, the old dying man.  He once formed a traveling theatre group and has done a Hollywood movie.  He has 271 acting credits, 6 for the music department and 2 for producing including "Hey Ram" (2000), "Monsoon Wedding" (2001), "Maqbool" (2004), "Omkara" (2006),  "Amal" (2007), "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" (2011) and "Gehraiyaan" (2022), "IC814:  The Kandarhar Hijack" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/09/ic-814-kandahar-hijack.html 

Diljit Dosanjh played Nivair Singh, the grandson and was also a playback singer.  He has 101 acting credits and 41 for the music department including "Udta Punjab" (2016), "Phillauri" (2017), "Soorma" (2018), "Good Newwz" (2019) and "Amar Singh Chamila" (2023).   See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/02/good-newwz.html 

Vedang  Raina played the young lover Keenu.  He has 3 acting credits and 2 for the music department.

Sharvari played Jiya, the young lover abandoned.  She has 8 acting credits and 3 for assistant directing including "Bajirao Mastani" (2015) and "Maharaj" (2015).  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/07/maharaj.html

Rajat Kapoor played Iqbal.  He has 84 acting credits, 14 for directing and 10 for writing including "Dil Chahta Hai" (2001), "Monsoon Wedding" (2002), "Khoya Khoya Chand" (2007), "Beja Fry" (2007)"Dasvidaiya" (2008)"Midnight's Children" (2012), "Ankhon Dekhi" (2013), "Drishyam" (2015), "Kapoor & Sons" (2016), "Drishyam 2" (2022), "Saare Jahan Se Accha" (2025), "Raat Akeli Hai:  The Bansal Murders" (2025) and "Raid 2" (2025).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/11/driishyam-bollywood-remake-masterpiece.html and   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/12/a-nawazuddin-siddiqu-sequel-is-very-good.html

Dolly Ahulwalia played Keenu's grandmother.  She has 32 acting credits and 18 for costume design.  As a costume designer she worked on three films with Deepa Methta, "Fire' (1996)"Earth," (1998) "Water," (2005 also acted)  and "Midnight's Children" (2012).  She won costuming awards for "Bhaag Milka Bhaag" (2013) and "Haider" (2014).   She also won supporting actor awards for "Vicky Donor" (2012).   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/04/vicky-donor-cf-dharala-prabhu.html 

"Main Vaapas Aaunga" is an important movie as it concerned with the Partition which many of our westerners have long forgotten.  There is a short gruesome scene illustrating extreme desperation.  It is also an enduring love story.  It is available subtitled on Netflix.  I do recommend it

Amar Singh Chamkila used dirty lyrics to success and an early death

As a teenager (and young adult) I was very used to vulgar songs and did my share of participating.  Mostly forgotten now.

"Amar Singh Chamkila"(2024) starts off with the assassination of Amar and his wife Amarjot, plus two band members.  We learn later that this crime is unsolved.

 Shortly after this we learn a little bit about Amar's success.  He sang vulgar songs.  An example of vulgarity was provided when a young girl asked what  "boner" meant.  An older expression I had long forgotten.  His songs had a beat that encouraged people to dance.

As Amar get rolling, he loses his first duet singer.  Quickly gets a second, Amajot and eventually was coerced into marrying her.  A detail that came out later was that he was already married.  They continue together and had a child.

His popularity was widespread.  Some young people asked some elderly women if they were aware of the vulgar songs and they admitted that they "discretely" danced to it.  He performs in other countries, particularly Canada where Punjabis have gathered

The thrust of this film is the conflict between popularity and censorship.  Sikh religious leaders at one point get him to sing devotional songs, but his fans protest.  Later the religious authorities threaten strong action and he is required to give up his "naughty" songs among some other restrictions.  He ignores and we return to the beginning of the film.

To give a feeling of reality we see archived footage videos and photos of the real couple side by side of the film couple that are stunningly similar.

It is a fascinating story of popularity and censorship.  You will get a sense of conflict.  The cast and crew are top notch.  Here are some of them.

Imtiaz Ali was director and script writer.  He has 18 writing credits, 11 directing and 6 for producer. including "Ahista Ahista" (2006),  "Love Aaj Kal" (2009), "Jab We Met" (2007), "Rockstar" (2011), "Highway" (2014) and "Tamasha" (2015)/  Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/02/tamasha-wonderful-story.html

A.R. Rahman, in truth was the deciding point for me  as a lot of his music is in my library.  He had done commercial jingles when Mani Ratman invited him to write for a film "Roja" (1992).  I had not realized that Rahman wrote for the Tamil market, but has expanded to Bollywood,  American, English etc.  With the encouragement of  Andrew Lloyd Webber he wrote for a stage musical, "Bombay Dreams" that had long runs in both London and New York. He has 201 composing credits and 81 for the music department including "Bombay" (1995), "Fire" (1996), "Lagaan Once Upon a Time in India" (2001), "Swades" (2004), "Water" (2005), "Rang de Basanti" (2006), "Ghajini" (2008), "Slum Dog Millionaire" (2008), "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" (2012), "Highway" (2014), "100 Foot Journey" (2014) and "Tamasha" (2015).    Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/07/the-making-of-lagaan-chale-chalo-lunacy.html  Elsewhere Rahman had commented that he often gives producers a difficult time in order to get what he wants and feels the film benefits--this comes out a bit in this presentation.

Sylvester Fonseca was in charge of cinematography.  He has 29 film credits including "Lust Stories" (2018), "Sacred Games" (2018-2019) and "Choked Paisa Bolta Hai" (2020).

Aarti Bajaj was the editor.  She has 47 credits including "Jab We Met" (2010), "Karthik Calling Karthik" (2011), "No One Killed Jessica" (2011), "Ishaqzaade" (2012) and and "Highway" (2014). 

Mukesh Chhabra helped with the casting.  After studying acting he spent over six years teaching and acting.  He is noted for bringing such faces as Rajkummar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajpt, Mrunal Thakur, Prateik Gandhi, Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh to the screen.  He has 227 credits for casting (+ 29 for the casting department and 29 for acting) including "Amal" (2007), "Kai Che Po" (20130, "Wrong Side Raju" (2016), "Mom" (2017), "Sacred Games" (2018-19), "Sanju" (2018), "Notebook" (2019), "The Family Man" (2019), "Dil Bechara" (2020), "Laal Singh Chaddha" (2022), "Jaane Jaan" (2023) and "Dunki" (2023). For a film where Mukesh had a lasting impression check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/05/kai-che-po.html

Diljit Dosanjh played Amare Singh Chamkila.  He was the first Punjabi actor to be featured on New York Times Square.  He has 82 acting credits and 27 for the Music Department including "Udta Punjab" (2016), "Phillauri" (2017), Soorma" (2018), "Good Newwz' (2019) and "Jogi" (2022).  Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/02/good-newwz.html

Parineeti Chopra played Amarjot, duet partner for Amar.  As a youngster she used to sing with her cousin Priyanka Chopra Jonas and their fathers.  She received triple honors at the Manchester Business School.  She took at job at Yash Raj Films as a public relations consultant, but soon got into acting getting a big breakthrough with her first film, "Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl" (2011).  She has 70 acting credits and 2 for the music department including "Ishaqzaade" (2012), "Shuddh Desi Romance" (2013), "Hassee Toh Phasee" (2014),"The Girl on the Train" (2021), "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar" (2021) and "Mission Raniganj" (2024).

Anjum Batra played Tikki and one time friend of Amar.  He has 13 credits including "Dev D" (2009), "The Dirty Picture" (2011), "Jersey" (2022) and "Maamia Legal Hai" (2024).

Mohit Chauhan was a key backup singer, but also made a cameo appearance.   He once sang one of the most romantic songs in my memory in the film "Jab We Met" (2010).  He has 142 Music Department and 16 as an actor including "Rang di Basanti" (2006), "Delhi-6" (2009), "Love Aaj Kal" (2009), "Zindagi Na Milega Dobara" (2011), "Tamasha" (2015), "Sultan" (2016), "Lucknow Central" (2017), "Pad Man" (2018) and "Notebook" (2019).

This film enjoys popular and critical success.  Available on Netflix, subtitled or dubbed.  It captures a part of the Punjabi culture which has traveled globally including here in Canada..

I have bolded the first mention of a film I have seen.