For Vedang-Sharvari, Imtiaz Ali's 'Main Vaapas Aaunga' happened through conversations

Actors Vedang Raina and Sharvari were cast in Imtiaz Ali's film without a formal audition, recalling a long conversation with the director about non-film related topics.

Actors Vedang Raina and Sharvari, who play young lovers in Imtiaz Ali's ''Main Vaapas Aaunga'', don't recall the exact moment they were finalised for their roles as there was no formal audition. All they remember is the long conversation they had with the director about everything except movies.

''The Archies'' star Raina met Ali a long time ago and said it was always a dream to work with the director, who has formed a special relationship with audiences through his movies such as ''Jab We Met'', ''Love Aaj Kal'', ''Rockstar'', ''Highway'', ''Tamasha'' and ''Amar Singh Chamkila''.

''I met him earlier about something and we had a lovely conversation about everything except films... We spoke about music and culture and my family and Kashmir because I'm a Kashmiri. It was just about everything except a movie or a script or what are you looking to do. I just remember thinking, 'If he's ever making a film, it would just be such a dream','' Raina told PTI, recalling his first meeting with Ali after the release of ''Chamkila''.

After completing his second film ''Jigra'' (2024), Raina met Ali a second time and the director started discussing the part with him.

''I think he (Ali) just treats it like a conversation and it's not like 'Oh, you've got a part.' He won't be like, 'This is your character.' I was like, 'Is this for me? Are you just telling me about this thing you're doing or you're considering me for the part?' That confusion is there,'' said the 25-year-old actor.

Raina added that he was so unsure about being cast that he called his agent and asked him to reconfirm with Ali whether he had actually landed the part.

Sharvari said she has always been a fan of Ali, especially the way the filmmaker has presented women characters in his movies.

''I thought I'll reach out to him and see whether I can just get a meeting. I met him, I sat here in his office and spoke to him about food at most. We bonded over food and it was never really an agenda meeting. I don't think I knew he was making a film at that point. I remember I sent him puran polis from my house because we spoke so much about it that week,'' she recalled.

Known for her roles in films such as ''Munjya'', ''Maharaj'', and ''Vedaa'', the actor said she followed up with Ali when she got to know that he was working on ''Main Vaapas Aaunga''.

She told him that she wanted to audition for the part but Ali said he was still in the process of deciding his cast.

When they met again, Ali started talking about the story.

''I don't think he really offers it; he wants to see whether you're connecting to the material. He starts talking about the film and then everything kind of falls into place. He doesn't say, 'This is your film'. But by the end of the meeting, you know.''.

''Main Vaapas Aaunga'' tells the story of a young man, played by Raina, who falls in love with a woman portrayed by Sharvari in pre-Partition India. The narrative unfolds across two timelines, with Naseeruddin Shah playing the older version of Raina's character and Diljit Dosanjh starring as his grandson.

Both Raina and Sharvari said Ali has a distinctive directorial approach, where he prioritises on getting the emotional authenticity of his characters right.

Raina added that the director avoids dictating how actors should perform a scene, instead guiding them towards discovering emotions organically.

''He doesn't tell you what he wants, like I want a tear in your eye or I want you to look happy, which anyways is our job as actors to feel everything we're doing. We have to somehow find that process of feeling to get to the outcome of whatever the shot or the scene demands. His process is to aid us in getting there.''.

Sharvari said Ali never gave clinical instructions.

''We asked him so many questions and he always had an answer for that and while he was giving an answer, he was storytelling. Like, he would not give an emotion, he would not tell you that this is the emotion or this is what you should do, he would weave a story around what answer you want and then he would leave that story with you for you to then interpret it,'' she said.

''Main Vaapas Aaunga'' also stars Sanjay Suri, Rajat Kapoor, Anjana Sukhani, and Manish Chaudhari among others, ·.

Produced by Birla Studios and Applause Entertainment along with Mohit Choudhary, Shibasish Sarkar of Window Seat Films, the movie will release in theatres on June 12.