Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali recently shed light on an emotional visit to his childhood home. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, the Main Vaapas Aaunga director opened up about the unexpected breakdown he experienced while revisiting the house where he grew up, describing it as a reminder of the losses that inevitably come with growing older.
A Sudden Decision To Revisit The Past
Recalling the visit, Imtiaz said the trip was not something he had planned for a long time. Instead, it happened spontaneously while he was with his father. “It was some sort of a loss. My father was there. I never go there, and suddenly I said, ‘Can we go?’ And I was driving, so he, poor guy [his father], had no option but to come with me.”
When they arrived at the property, the people living there did not recognise him. Imtiaz said he tried to explain his connection to the house and why he wanted to visit.
“Then we went into that house, and there some unfamiliar people came out… there was an elderly lady and a young girl. Neither of them recognised me. I wanted to say, ‘Hum yahan bohot pehle rehte the,’ and say those things, and I was being very nice to them.”
The Moment That Overwhelmed Him
As he stepped into the house, memories began to surface. Imtiaz recalled moving through the familiar rooms and spaces while his father spoke to the current residents.
“But then the moment I came into that space, I just moved inside the house… and then my dad came in and tried to explain… and I crossed the hall, and I crossed the angan, which was covered, and I came out from there…”
What happened next took him by surprise.
“And I broke down. And I was moving so fast because I knew I was going to break down, and tears were streaming down. I never cry… I don’t, and I’ve never been like that. Never been like that!”
The filmmaker said he could not immediately understand why the experience affected him so deeply.
“And then I was just crying, and the only thing, the words that kept ringing in my brain, is: ‘What happened? What happened to you?'”
‘Growing Up Is A Journey Of Loss’
Reflecting on the emotional reaction, Imtiaz said his life had not been defined by tragedy. Instead, he felt the moment was connected to the gradual loss of childhood, familiarity, and a sense of home that comes with the passage of time.
“My life is not a tragic story at all, but inevitably growing up is a journey of loss of something, you know?”
He added that people often try to hold on to memories and feelings from the past, even as they slowly slip away.
“And then you think that you try to retain it, whether it’s childhood or this feeling of home and of who you are, but it keeps going away. It keeps going away.”
Imtiaz is currently riding high on the success of his latest film, Main Vaapas Aaunga.
Also Read: Imtiaz Ali Reacts To Daughter Ida’s Engagement To Krish Agrawal: “Greatest Happiness”
