When Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaungawasreleased in theatres on June 12, it met with a lukewarm response. With empty theatres and little hype surrounding it, the film managed to earn just over ₹12.25 crore in its first week, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. All of that changed in the subsequent week as the epic Partition romance started catching up with people, slowly becoming the highlight of social media feeds, with audiences reacting emotionally to its second half. Soon, the film created an unusual trend of people recording themselves as they cried while watching the climax, a pattern similar to last year’s sleeper hit, Saiyaara. And the resounding tears also brought in numbers as the Imtiaz Ali directorial’s second week collections doubled up.Both Saiyaara and Main Vaapas Aaunga are intense romantic musicals with the devastating theme of loss and longing at their core. It is love that changes the course of characters’ lives in the films, turning Krish (Ahaan Panday) in Saiyaara into a caregiver while creating a lifelong dent in the lives of Keenu (Vedang Raina) and Jiya (Sharvari Wagh) as they separate during the Partition in Main Vaapas Aaunga. It is the incomplete nature of the love story that spawns emotional reactions among audiences. That is what happened to Mumbai-based content creator and film enthusiast, Pulkit Kochar, when he watched Main Vaapas Aaunga.“That incomplete feeling was also seen in Rockstar and Laila Majnu, written by Imtiaz. It feels striking to see that, along with realising that the two got separated for no fault of theirs. It was the country that divided them. That really broke my heart,” says Pulkit while recollecting his experience of watching the film and noting that the performance of Naseeruddin Shah as the older Keenu left a strong impact on him.“It is also aching to see Naseer’s 95-year-old character turn into an 18-year-old when he sees the first love of his life. That’s what love does to you. Subconsciously, everyone is turning into that young lover while watching the climax of Main Vaapas Aaunga,” he adds.