Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga has struck a chord with the audience for its intense storytelling and Vedang Raina has garnered much appreciation for the work he has done. His chemistry with Sharvari and the innocence of the pre-Partition era that they brought on screen, connected with the viewers.
Ask him about revisiting that era through the film and Vedang Raina says, “I had such an interesting time and something about going back in time gives such an amazing feeling. It’s hard to describe it and also to play a character from a time where phones, social media and all did not exist, it was already exciting in its own way.”
He adds, “This was a really important time for our country, this was the time right before Partition and that era was so exciting. There was so much research to do and there was so much to learn which we made an attempt to do. We went to the Partition museum in Amritsar. We spent hours there together just to know about the people of the time and what their experiences were like. But also, we experienced the sukoon, beauty and the purity of that time. The innocence that time had and I had a great time doing it.”
In Main Vaapas Aaunga, while Vedang doesn’t share screen with actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh, he feels honoured to just be part of the same project as him. With both of them having an acting and singing background, he does feel inspired by the Punjabi artiste. “I’m inspired by Diljit the artiste since I don’t know how long now. In terms of acting, I’d seen Udta Punjab (2016) and he was amazing. But somewhere when I saw Chamkila (2024), it blew my mind and I was so in awe of who he is.”
Check out the full chat with Vedang Raina and Sharvari here:
He further adds, “I can only take inspiration from it but I don’t consider us in the same league at all. He is a real singer-actor and I do this for passion. I’m lucky that I’m getting an opportunity to do it but I can only look at him in awe. Every time he goes up on stage and represents our country, it’s a matter of pride for all of us and we feel somehow that Diljit is the type of person that you see his victory and you feel happy. You feel very happy for his success and he’s taking our culture all over the world.”