New Delhi: Imtiaz Ali turned 55 on 16 June as his latest film Main Wapas Aunga continues to play across theatres in India. To mark the occasion, his longtime friend and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap shared a social media post joking that Chamkila (2024) was Ali “first film” and Main Wapas Aunga is his “sophomore” project.
“Keep inspiring and breaking our hearts,” Kashyap wrote, asking Ali to stop stealing his loved ones and urging fans to watch Main Wapas Aunga.
While Main Wapas Aunga (2026) is struggling at the box office, having collected only Rs 5 crore against its reported budget of Rs 70 crore, Kashyap’s public support for Ali highlights their long-standing friendship.
Earlier this week, Kashyap had also criticised Indian theatres on social media for prioritizing the Hollywood film Obsession (2026) over Indian releases. He wrote that last week his film Bandar (2026) was sidelines and the same was happening with films like Main Wapas Aaunga (2026), the Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Governor (2026), and Singh Gheetam (2026), the 61st film of 94-year-old Singeetham Srinivasa Rao.
“We have one morning show of Main Wapas Aunga... same with Governor, and no show of Singh Gheetam in Bangalore. Obsession is playing in 6–7 shows,” he wrote in an Instagram story.
Kashyap’s struggle with the box office is not new. Although many of his films have received critical acclaim, they have not performed well commercially. Among those that have done well are Gangs of Wasseypur, released in 2012, made on a budget of Rs 21 crore, which collected Rs 35 crore worldwide. Dev.D (2009), produced on a budget of Rs 11 crore, collected Rs 20 crore worldwide.
His recent film Kennedy (2023) was unable to secure a theatrical release for two years after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. It was eventually released on OTT in 2026. Meanwhile, his film Nishaanchi (2025) collected only Rs 1 crore worldwide.
Interestingly, Ali’s acting debut came in Kashyap’s Black Friday (2004), in which he played Yakub Memon. The film holds an 8.4 rating on IMDb and was made on a budget of Rs 4.5 crore and collected nearly Rs 7 crore worldwide.
Unlike Kashyap, several of Ali’s films have found greater commercial success. Rockstar (2011), made on a budget of Rs 66 crore, earned around Rs 100 crore worldwide, while Highway (2014) collected approximately Rs 47 crore against a budget of Rs 25 crore. His previous directorial, Chamkila (2024), was released directly on OTT.
(Edited by Janaki Pande)