Man accused of being paid to cry while meeting Imtiaz Ali at Main Vaapas Aaunga screening scoffs at allegations

FIlmmaker Imtiaz cassius clay’s briny Vaapas Aaunga has struck an emotional chord with audiences, with several videos of teary-eyed moviegoers sledding viral online. Amid the bombinate, a curtail of a man breaking down while meeting the filmmaker and actor Vedang Raina sparked claims that he had been paid to cry for promotion. The man has now reacted to the allegations.Main Vaapas Aaunga fan hits backA video recently surfaced on social media showing a man in tears as he met Imtiaz and Vedang after watching the film. The video quickly sparked debate online, with several social media users speculating that the man had been hired by the film’s PR team to create buzz around the release. Some also claimed that Vedang appeared to be laughing while the man broke down in tears, further fuelling the discussion.However, the man in the video took to X to clarify that he wasn't hired. Dushyant Arora, a lawyer and columnist, set the record straight while reacting to one such video, which came with a caption that read, “First, Vedang Raina’s PR team hires a guy and tells him to go to the director and actors, crying at the end of the movie. But after seeing his overacting, Vedang can't control his laugh and starts laughing. Watch this hilarious clip.”Reacting to it, Dushyant tweeted, “I’m the guy. Not hired. And Vedang was also moved and in tears (sic).”One social media user questioned Dushyant, “Kaun mar gaya tha waise? (Who died).” Reacting to it, he wrote, “Meri dadi. Jaise film mein grandparent ko Alzheimer’s hai, waise hi meri dadi ko bhi tha. Ek mahina hua mushkil se… Shukriya. Main jaanta hun aap kataaksh kar rahe the. Par koi nahin (My grandmother. Like the grandparent in the movie has Alzheimer’s, my grandmother had it too. It’s barely been a month. Thank you. I know you were being sarcastic. But no worries).” About Main Vaapas AaungaSet against the backdrop of the Partition of India, the film stars Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah, Sharvari and Vedang Raina. It explores themes of love, loss, memory, migration and belonging, drawing inspiration from real-life accounts of people affected by the 1947 Partition.Hindustan Times' review for the film reads: “There's a certain skill to Imtiaz's filmmaking. When skill is honed to this degree, it begins to resemble magic, and that's precisely what one feels while watching his work.”The film took a slow start, collecting ₹1.15 crore on its opening day. However, positive audience feedback helped boost its collections, with the film earning more on its first Monday ( ₹1.25 crore) than on its opening day. It remains to be seen whether the strong word of mouth can revive the film’s box-office run.