Director Mohit Suri revealed that Saiyaara was initially being developed as a potential follow-up to his 2013 hit Aashiqui 2, but things didn’t pan out as expected. “The Aashiqui 3 thing… it was too nascent. They (the Aashiqui 3 producers) had asked me if I would be interested in making it. This was the idea I had. But I don’t commit to something till I have a script ready. They were in a hurry to begin, so I was more than glad when Anurag took over, but I couldn’t rush the process,” Mohit shared while speaking to PTI.
He admitted that stepping away from the franchise gave him the creative space to make Saiyaara the way he truly envisioned it. “Once there was no sequel pressure or of a star cast which had an opening number to live up to, I stopped caring about the commerce. And I just went and made a film,” he said. Without the weight of expectations or comparisons, Mohit focused purely on the story he wanted to tell.
“If I was making a sequel, or a franchise, I would be somewhere playing to a commerce like ‘Let’s make it better than Aashiqui 2. Let’s make the music better’. I didn’t do that. I did what’s best for the film. It was such a liberating process,” he added, calling Saiyaara a creatively freeing experience that wasn’t bound by box office expectations or the legacy of a previous film.
He also revealed that producer Aditya Chopra had faith in the film from the start. “Aditya Chopra saw the rough edit of the movie and predicted that the movie would cross Rs 100 crore at the box office,” Mohit said. On the decision to keep lead actors Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda away from the film’s promotions, he clarified it wasn’t some sudden or new idea, but a choice that aligned with the film’s strategy. Released on July 18, Saiyaara has now earned over ₹300 crore and follows the story of Krish, an ambitious musician, and Vaani, a shy lyricist healing from heartbreak.
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