Decoding the ‘Manmarziyaan’ - Amrita Pritam Connection

How is ‘Manmarziyaan’ connected to the Punjabi writer and poet Amrita Pritam?

Taapsee Pannu and Abhishek Bachchan in Manmarziyaan; Sahir Ludhianvi and Amrita Pritam.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Those of you who’ve attentively watched Manmarziyaan from the first frame, would’ve noticed that the Anurag Kashyap film is dedicated to writer and poet Amrita Pritam. Since it isn’t based on any of her works, how exactly is this passionate Tinder ka generationwala love story related to the first woman recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award?

Well, there are those lines from Amrita Pritam’s famous poem Main Tenu Phir Milangi... which we hear in Taapsee’s voice as the film inches towards its half-way mark and her character Rumi decides to get married to Robbie after being deserted yet again by her lover Vicky. In her moment of heartbreak, like Amrita Pritam, Rumi resolves that this won’t be the end of her relationship with Vicky -

“Main Tenu Phir Milaan Gi
Kithey? Kis Tarah? Pata Nai...”

(I will meet you again
Where? How? I know not...)

But as a tweet from the director Anurag Kashyap points out, the connect between Manmarziyaan and the spirited Punjabi poet runs deeper.

On Saturday, the filmmaker retweeted with a comment, tagging his writer Kanika Dhillon to a thread that outlines how Manmarziyaan’s love triangle is a reflection of the relationship that Sahir Ludhianvi - Amrita Pritam - Imroz shared. Anurag was reacting to a few observations made by Sohini (@Mittermaniac), who joined a few dots between the film and Amrita Pritam’s personal life in a thread, which you can see here:

Vicky is Sahir Ludhianvi and Rumi is Amrita Pritam

Sahir Ludhianvi Was a Commitment-Phobe Too?

The Shared Cigarettes

Lyricist to DJ

Imroz is Robbie

Since Anurag Kashyap and Kanika Dhillon haven’t disagreed to or denied the assumption made in these tweets, we’ll see this as a confirmation that Sohini (@Mittermaniac) was indeed correct in reading between the lines.