Sanjay Suri, who plays Jasmer in Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga, spoke about his deep personal connection with the film. Having lost his father during the 1990 Kashmir insurgency, Suri said the film’s themes of displacement, grief and loss of home resonate with his family’s living history.
Directed by Imtiaz Ali, ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ features Sanjay Suri as Jasmer, the father of Vedang Raina’s character. Although the role is small, it carries great weight in a story about displacement, love and loss.
The film is set during Partition and depicts the pain of longing for a home to which one can never return.
For Suri, the story seems very close to his own life. He lost his father during the 1990 Kashmir insurgency and experienced the grief of leaving home, which made him relate deeply to the film’s themes of grief, loss and identity. The actor recently spoke about how the film reminded him of his past.
Sanjay Suri talks about why he agreed to ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’
In an interview with Variety India, when Sanjay was asked whether it was the franchise factor or the subject of the film that made him say yes to the role, he said, “It was a combination of both. It always starts with the story. If you look at my filmography, there are a lot of first-time directors whose work nobody knew. This story touched me deeply because of its emotional honesty and the way it explored a theme that was both personal and universal at the same time.”
Imtiaz Ali at the helm of the team has made a huge difference. He approaches his characters with empathy rather than judgment. When I got a call from the casting director’s office that Imtiaz wanted to meet her, there was a feeling of relief and excitement inside me, that something special was coming. You feel safe as an actor in the hands of a director who understands the nuances of the human condition and allows vulnerability to exist on screen.
I loved exploring Jasmer with him.”
Sanjay Suri in scenes from the movie Main Vaapas Aaunga that he personally liked
When asked if any particular scene in the film brings back personal memories or stirs up emotions, Al-Suri did not limit himself to just one moment. He said: “To be honest, it’s not about one scene or just my viewers in particular… The railway station scene (in which he’s shown returning to the station at a certain time every day, hoping his family will arrive), whether it’s waiting for the family or trying to get back, I generally connect with such stories on a human level.
Yes, there were moments in the film that resonated very deeply with me on a personal level. The theme of displacement, loss, and the search for home are not abstract ideas for me. “They are part of my family’s living history, including me when I was 19.”
How important is the role of storytelling in addressing themes such as loss and identity?
He added: “Partition, the Kabali raids in Baramullah (Kashmir) and then 1990… the experiences and stories of uncertainty and one’s world suddenly changing have been passed down through the generations. My father was killed in 1990 in his home in Kashmir, and that was accompanied not only by the loss of a loved one, but also by the loss of home and identity. So whenever I touch the sight of the pain of losing a home or being separated from one’s roots or carrying grief.” Across the generations, it’s been impossible for me to deal with it purely as an actor, these feelings are already somewhere inside me and I’m going through these feelings because they’re tied to my personal memories and family history.
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About ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’
The film ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ is directed by Imtiaz Ali and features it
Diljit Dosanjh
,
Nasir al-Din Shah
Sharvari and Vedang Raina in the lead roles.
