2026 · Film
Main Vaapas Aaunga
Imtiaz Ali's Partition-era love story in which a dying 95-year-old's grandson pieces together the romance his grandfather left behind in Punjab in 1947.
Released Fri, 12 Jun, 2026
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Mon, 26 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 26 October 2026, Main Vaapas Aaunga is streaming in India on Netflix with a subscription.
The story
Ninety-five-year-old Ishar Singh Grewal, known as Keenu, has had a stroke and is slipping into dementia, yet he refuses to let go, muttering about going back to his ancestral home in Sargodha, now in Pakistan. His grandson Nirvair flies in from London to care for him and tries to make sense of the old man's fragments. The story moves back 78 years to a young Keenu, a rowdy college student who loves jazz and cricket, and the Muslim girl he falls for just before Partition.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
For viewers who like Imtiaz Ali's long, music-led love stories and Partition dramas told through families. It runs close to three hours and deals with violence and separation in 1947, so it suits teenagers and adults.
Genres:RomanceDramaHistorical
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
Main Vaapas Aaunga was written by Imtiaz Ali with Nayanika Mahtani and announced in June 2025; it is Ali's second film with Diljit Dosanjh after Amar Singh Chamkila. A. R. Rahman composed the music, Applause Entertainment produced it, and shooting began in Punjab in October 2025. The British Board of Film Classification rated it 15 for its UK release.
Planned for Baisakhi 2026, it opened in cinemas on 12 June 2026. It started slowly, with ₹1.28 crore on day one, but held on to complete 50 days in cinemas; Wikipedia records a worldwide gross of ₹100.63 crore. Reviews were mostly positive. It began streaming on Netflix on 7 August 2026, in Hindi with English and Hindi subtitles and a Hindi audio-description track.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Romantic drama, Period drama
- Runtime
- 167 min
- Director
- Imtiaz Ali
- Cast
- Naseeruddin Shah, Diljit Dosanjh, Sharvari, Vedang Raina, Banita Sandhu
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch Main Vaapas Aaunga in India?
- As of 26 October 2026, Main Vaapas Aaunga is streaming in India on Netflix with a subscription.
- Is Main Vaapas Aaunga in Hindi?
- Yes. Main Vaapas Aaunga is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is Main Vaapas Aaunga?
- Main Vaapas Aaunga runs for 2 hours 47 minutes (167 minutes).