The trailer for Ishqnama dropped on July 14 giving audiences their first real look at the film ahead of its worldwide release on July 24.Most love stories on screen end when the credits roll. Ishqnama, the Punjabi romantic film, is unusual because its real-life story hasn’t ended at all, and the film’s cast and crew seem acutely aware they’re not just retelling history, they’re standing inside an unfinished one.The facts alone read like fiction. In 1982, Nirmal Singh, known as Nimma, fell for Naseema Begum, a Muslim woman across the India-Pakistan border. What followed was not a single act of devotion but thirty-four of them: thirty-four illegal crossings of one of the most heavily guarded frontiers on earth, sustained in secret for roughly two-and-a-half years before Pakistani security forces caught him. He was arrested, imprisoned.Director Arvvindr S Khaira makes his feature debut with the film, adapting it from the book Hind Pak Bordernama. What sets this telling apart is that the story hasn’t fully closed. Nimma has said he spoke to Naseema on the phone in 2019, and that was how he learned where her life had taken her: she told him she now lives alone in England. Efforts are reportedly still underway to trace her, turning the film’s release into something closer to an ongoing search than a period piece.One small detail from that search has stayed with the team: an old photograph of Naseema that was never finished. It was eventually completed using artificial intelligence and shown to Nimma as a surprise. “When Bapuji saw it, he got emotional.” said Jayy Randhawa.For her part, Shehnaaz Gill, who plays Naseema, said the role had demanded the most of her: “It shook me out of my comfort zone. This is a larger-than-life old-school romance that paints love as a revolution.” She added, “I dedicate this to anyone who has been in love.”Jayy, playing Nimma opposite Shehnaaz, chose Punjab itself to unveil the trailer, calling it a tribute to where his career began. “In many ways, bringing Nimma to life is my humble way of thanking the audience that has stood by me through every phase of my journey,” he said. Reflecting on the emotional weight of the part, he said simply, “Patience and confidence, that never gives up.”Saurabh Sachdeva joined the cast as the formidable Bilawal Khan, marking his entry into Punjabi cinema. The soundtrack, led by B Praak and Jyotica Tangri’s already-viral track Narak, written by Jaani, leans into heartbreak as its emotional register rather than triumph.Ishqnama releases in India, Canada, the UK, and the US on July 24, and, fittingly for a story about a border, in Pakistan too.