Satire page says ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ is ‘anti-national’ for not showing Pakistan with terrorists; AR Rahman reacts

Composer AR Rahman is winning praise online, not for a clarification this time, but for taking a joke in his stride. A satirical page poked fun at his film ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’, and Rahman simply laughed it off.

What the post said

The post asked if ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ was “anti-national.” The reason given was tongue in cheek. The film dares to show Pakistan without terrorists or secret agents.

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The joke played on a common trope in Hindi cinema, where Pakistan is often shown through the lens of spies, soldiers or terror plots. ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ takes a different route. It tells a love story set against the 1947 Partition, focusing on memory, longing and a promise made across the border, rather than conflict or espionage.

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The film in question

Main Vaapas Aaunga, directed by Imtiaz Ali, released in theatres on June 12. The cast includes Naseeruddin Shah, Diljit Dosanjh, Sharvari and Vedang Raina. Naseeruddin Shah plays a 95 year old man with dementia who longs to revisit his childhood home in what is now Pakistan. Diljit Dosanjh plays his grandson, who helps him chase that closure.

The film moves between two timelines, present day London and Delhi, and pre-Partition Punjab. At its core is a love story between a Sikh man and a Muslim woman, separated by the line drawn in 1947.

How Rahman responded

Rahman composed the film’s music, working again with Imtiaz Ali and lyricist Irshad Kamil after their earlier collaboration on ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’. When the satirical post about the film started doing the rounds, Rahman did not issue a statement or address it seriously. He simply laughed it off, treating the joke as exactly that, a joke.

This response stood out because of the timing. Rahman had faced genuine backlash earlier this year after a BBC Asian Network interview, where he spoke about reduced work opportunities in Bollywood and called another film, Chhaava, “divisive.” That comment led to him being labeled “anti-national” by several social media users, forcing him to post a clarification video defending his love for the country.