Imtiaz Ali was once abducted from his college hostel in a cycle rickshaw: ‘Come with us’

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali has often spoken fondly about his years at Delhi University’s Hindu College, describing them as a formative period that shaped both his personality and creative instincts. The director, who graduated from Hindu College, Delhi University in 1993, has often credited the college for giving him a sense of independence and creative freedom. But amid the fond memories of college life, the director recently recalled a frightening incident from those years—being abducted by a local political gang over a dispute involving a poster.

Speaking to Unfiltered by Samdish, Imtiaz looked back at the incident, which began with something as seemingly minor as a poster on the wall of his college hostel.

How a hostel poster sparked a confrontation

According to the filmmaker, student politics on campus at the time was heavily influenced by rival groups, and a disagreement over where a political poster should be displayed soon spiralled into an unexpected confrontation.

“In Delhi, I was once abducted from my hostel by a local gang. At that time, there was the usual NSUI versus ABVP rivalry in universities. Someone had put up a poster on the wall of my hostel. I told them not to put it on the front face of the hostel and instead use the side walls. They deliberately pasted it on the front wall. In front of them, I removed it and put it up on the side. They left.”

Imtiaz believed the matter had ended there. It hadn’t.

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‘They came at 2 am to take me away’

“A few days later, around 2 am, one of my hostel mates came and told me to run because those people were coming. They arrived and said, ‘Come with us.’ I asked where, but they had come in a cycle rickshaw to take me away. They made me sit and took me to a government quarter-type place in the university area.”

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Once there, he found himself standing before the man leading the group.

“There was a gang leader there who was associated with a political party. He asked me what had happened. I told him I had not torn the poster. I had asked them not to put it there, and when they still did, I simply removed it and placed it elsewhere because it spoiled the look of the building.”

How Imtiaz Ali escaped the situation

What happened next, however, turned the situation in his favour.

“The gang leader then asked one of his men whether I had torn the poster. He replied, ‘It’s the same thing. Whether he removed it or tore it, it’s the same.’ The gang leader got angry and said, ‘You told me he had torn the poster, and now you’re saying he only removed it?'”

The misunderstanding soon exposed itself.

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“They got into an argument, and the gang leader slapped his own man twice for lying to him. That’s how I got away.”

Imtiaz Ali’s memories of Hindu College

During a visit to his alma mater in 2017, the filmmaker had reflected on the many experiences—good and bad—that shaped his college years.

“DU taught me a lot and I had good, bad, ugly, romantic, and all kinds of time here. [I did] illegal and shameful things as well, some of which I admitted in front of the principal (Anju Srivastava) today. Many, I will not [talk about] because this is a very strong government,” he had said.

On the work front, Imtiaz Ali’s next directorial venture is Main Vaapas Aaunga, featuring Diljit Dosanjh, Naseeruddin Shah, Vedang Raina and Sharvari in key roles. The film releases on June 12.