Imtiaz Ali says I’ll Be Back is not a political film, it’s a personal film
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali said about his upcoming film ‘I Will Be Back’ that it is a very personal love story set against the backdrop of Partition rather than a traditional historical drama. Cast members Vedang Raina and Sharvari also share their emotional experiences and sense of responsibility while preparing for their roles.
For filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, setting a love story against the backdrop of Partition i will come back It was never just about provoking conversation. The filmmaker said that he was always sure about the emotional core of the film and perhaps this certainty keeps the scares away.
speaking specifically to India TodayImtiaz considered making a film based on one of the most painful chapters in Indian history, at a time when historical narratives are often laden with political sensitivities.
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He said, “When there is nothing objectionable in your heart, when you are completely sure of your intentions, then you have nothing to fear.” India Today. The filmmaker said that he never saw the story as a “partition film” in the traditional sense.
“Because what does not exist will never be destroyed,” he explained thoughtfully. “There can’t be smoke without fire. I was very clear about the intention of the film. I knew it was a very personal story. It’s not a story of partition. It’s not a story of the country.”
Instead, Imtiaz sees the film as an intimate story unfolding within a historical reality.
He said, “It’s happening in undivided India. Many things have happened in the country that need to be registered. As I said, it’s a very personal story between the heroes of the film, and it happened at the time of Partition. Partition is present in the film in its full value, but it is also outside the focus area of the film.”
Vedang Raina Chalu i will come back
However, for young artists, stepping into that world came with its own emotional burden.
Vedang Raina, who is just two films old, admitted that although no actor can truly claim to completely understand the trauma people experienced during Partition, he constantly held a sense of responsibility when portraying someone from that era.
“I always say I had a kind of responsibility,” Vedang said.
He further added, “I took upon myself the responsibility of playing a person of this time and to represent what people of that time would have done. And I had to do justice to it, so I put pressure on myself.”
The actor shared that the feelings stayed with him even subconsciously during filming. “I felt it in my subconscious,” he said.
He added, “We had a conversation once about a scene, and he said something very interesting where he said you approach it honestly with what the character is in this moment.”
Vedang explained that although it was impossible to ignore the larger historical significance, Imtiaz encouraged him to remain true to the immediacy of the scene rather than perform history.
“For me, it felt like it was a big responsibility for someone who has gone through it. And I feel it in my own way because I have seen my grandparents talking about it. I am a Kashmiri, so they have seen migration in their own way. Of course, not in that way, but I had this idea in my mind and I couldn’t escape it,” he said.
Still, the actor believes that honesty matters more than thinking about the burden of representation. “Even if you’re aware of it, you may not be conscious of it, but you separate it from it because you just have to be true to that moment,” he said.
He added, “Maybe somewhere we both felt that yes, this is a story that many people have actually lived, and maybe there is a responsibility somewhere in it. But in that moment, you just trust your gut, listen to the instructions coming to you and be true to that moment.”
Visit to Sharvari Partition Museum
Sharvari then shared a very personal anecdote from the preparation process of the film. The two had visited the Partition Museum during a recce trip with Imtiaz Ali.
“When we went on Reiki with Imtiaz sir, we took a day off and we went to the Partition Museum, and we spent a lot of time there. Because we also wanted to be really responsible about the subject, and so we did our research and everything that we needed to,” Sharvari recalled.
By the end of the visit, both actors found themselves emotionally overwhelmed by the stories preserved inside the museum. “I think by the end of it, we were really touched by the emotion that was in that building,” he said.
i will come backStarring Diljit Dosanjh and Naseeruddin Shah, it is scheduled to release on June 12, 2026.