‘I was kidnapped in the middle of the night’:Imtiaz Ali recalls being kidnapped during college days

Film director Imtiaz Ali has shared a shocking incident from his college days. In an interview given to Samdish Bhatia, he revealed that during his studies in Delhi, he had a dispute with a local gang over removing a political poster from the hostel wall. Following this, the gang members abducted him from the hostel in the middle of the night. However, he later managed to escape safely after an unexpected turn of events. Imtiaz Ali is currently preparing for the release of his next film, ‘Main Wapas Aaunga’ (I Will Return). Controversy erupted over removing a poster from the wall
Imtiaz Ali completed his graduation from Hindu College, Delhi University in 1993. He said that at that time, there was a tough competition in student politics between NSUI and ABVP in the university colleges. During this time, some people put up a political poster on the main front wall of his hostel. Imtiaz asked those people to put the poster on the side wall instead of the front, but they did not agree. After this, Imtiaz removed the poster from there in front of them and put it on the side wall, which angered those people and they left. The gang came to pick him up by cycle rickshaw at midnight
Imtiaz said that a few days after this incident, around 2 AM, one of his hostel mates came and woke him up, telling him to run away from there. He said that those people were coming back. Soon after, the gang members arrived at the hostel and asked Imtiaz to come with them. When Imtiaz asked them where they were going, they did not give any answer. They forcibly made Imtiaz sit in a cycle rickshaw and took him to a place resembling a government quarter. There, their gang leader, associated with a political organisation, was present and began interrogating Imtiaz. Gang leader slapped his own man
The gang leader asked Imtiaz why he tore the poster. Imtiaz told him the truth, saying that he had not torn the poster, but had only removed it and placed it elsewhere so that the hostel building would not look bad from the front. After this, the gang leader asked the man who had brought Imtiaz whether the poster was actually torn. The man replied that removing or tearing was the same thing. Hearing this, the gang leader got angry and slapped his own man twice for lying. Amidst this argument, Imtiaz managed to escape safely from there. New film to be released on June 12
Apart from this anecdote from his college days, Imtiaz Ali is currently in discussion about his upcoming film ‘Main Wapas Aaunga’. This film is set to be released in cinemas on June 12. Diljit Dosanjh, Vedang Raina, Sharvari, and Naseeruddin Shah will be seen in lead roles in this film. The film’s story is a serious love story based on the backdrop of the partition of India. It portrays love, separation, and generational relationships by connecting the past and present times.