Saiyaara movie cast: Aneet Padda, Ahaan Panday, Geeta Agarwal, Rajesh Kumar, Varun Badola
Saiyaara movie director: Mohit Suri
Saiyaara movie review: The film marks the Bollywood debut of Ahaan Panday
Krish (Ahaan Panday) is a hotheaded wannabe composer. Vaani (Aneet Padda) is an earnest wannabe journalist. We know this because Krish gets into a scuffle almost as soon as the film opens, and stomps off, leaving the chance of a lucrative gig behind. And Vaani (Aneet Padda) gets smirked at in her new workplace because she has no idea of how many Instagram followers she has as she has deleted her account.
Krish (Ahaan Panday) is a hotheaded wannabe composer. Vaani (Aneet Padda) is an earnest wannabe journalist. We know this because Krish gets into a scuffle almost as soon as the film opens, and stomps off, leaving the chance of a lucrative gig behind. And Vaani (Aneet Padda) gets smirked at in her new workplace because she has no idea of how many Instagram followers she has as she has deleted her account.
That these two very different characters will clash, meet, and come together is ordained, because this is a Mohit Suri film. That it will have soulful ballad y music all over it is also expected, for the same reason.
At the core, Mohit follows his template where Krish, a hot headed emerging singer composer, finds a calming influence in Vaani, a journalist who has a way with words but no desire for social media likes. As she gives his tunes a meaning, memories get made and magic happens. But if the memory of the beloved fades, can we continue making new memories with the same partner? Mohit poses this question to the Instagram generation.
After delivering logs of deadwood, Mohit Suri, who loves to paint doomed romance on celluloid, returns to his Aashiqui roots with a fresh coat of mush whose ebbs and flows make one feel volatile and vulnerable in equal measure. An uplifting tale of unalloyed love whose pathos leaves its soot on the young souls, Saiyaaracarries the brooding intensity of a Mahesh Bhatt romance in the body of a maudlin Yash Raj love story.
With mental health as the villain of the piece, the story echoes the times when love is reduced to a lollipop by market forces. In the digital age, Mohit dials back to the pre rom com era, when heartache travelled through the screen on the wings of melodies, sacrifice was considered a virtue, and selfless love was celebrated.
Led by Irshad Kamil’s Saiyaara mera badla nahin hai, Mausam thoda badla hua hai (My love, you are the same, only the time has turned its back on us), the tripping soundtrack, put together by five composers, grows on your senses.
Young love is thrilling. That urge to ignore everything and be with the one you love can make you reckless. Decisions taken in the heat of the moment often turn into regrets, but in that moment, they make you feel invincible. The heartbeats sync It’s this heady emotion that filmmaker Mohit Suri has been tapping into for years now sample Aashiqui 2, Ek Villain, Half Girlfriend. Here, he successfully regurgitates the same formula with a twist.
That these two very different characters will clash, meet, and come together is ordained, because this is a Mohit Suri film. That it will have soulful ballad-y music all over it is also expected, for the same reason.
First things first, the two newcomers, Aneet Padda who’s done some acting work before, and Ahaan Panday, show promise. The latter, Chunky Panday’s nephew, or should one call him Ananya’s cousin, gets early lines in which he calls out ‘nepo kids’ and their entitlement, getting it out of the way, telling us that this Aditya Chopra production is very much a part of the current discourse. Ahaan’s delivery starts off unimpressive, and he needs more work on it, but he does manage to get into his part.
Dressed in regular chikan kurtas and jeans, Aneet is not as made up as Yashraj heroines can be, even if her spiky eyelashes stay distractingly so through the film. But there’s a pleasing groundedness to her, even though I had to strain to hear some of her mumbled words: staying natural doesn’t mean that you eat your words.
But the freshness of this jodi is weighed under by Suri’s familiar treatment which feels dated, the same old teary sequences laden by emo lyrics: what starts as passionate soon becomes cloying. Here are the wounds that Krish lives with, his childhood blighted by an alcoholic father, who gets a couple of redeeming lines. There is Vaani, with major trouble looming over her horizon, a past relationship depicted clunkily. The plot tries to touch upon the socially mediated aspects of a popular rockstar’s life, but gets over-run by the flailings of faceless band members, except for the one who gets all the lines, as well as some prettified portions shot by the sea and in the mountains.
Krish Kapur (Ahaan Panday) is an egoistic, short tempered musician in search of a big break. He meets Vaani (Aneet Padda), a shy, aspiring journalist who was once left at the altar. Krish chances upon her diary, filled with lyrics. He turns them into songs and they’re a hit. Love follows. But fate plays spoilsport, and the two are separated.
So, if it’s a story we’ve heard before, what works in the film’s favour? Three things: a talented cast, soulful music, and some beautifully crafted scenes.
When Mohit recently said that Saiyaara is what Aashiqui 3 could have been, he wasn’t wrong. The film feels like an organic fit into the Aashiqui universe. And perhaps it’s for the best that it didn’t carry the franchise name it gives this story space to shine on its own.
Ahaan Panday makes a confident debut as Krish. He pulls off an intense role in his very first outing, and that deserves praise. He emotes well and carries the spark of a romantic hero. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles other genres in the future.
Aneet Padda gets a complex part, and she fits the role. She looks great on screen, and together, Ahaan and Aneet share convincing chemistry. Their performances keep Saiyaara afloat.
Music has always been a strength in Mohit’s films, and this time too, he doesn’t disappoint. Tanishk Bagchi, Arslan Abdullah, and Faheem Nizami compose genuinely moving tracks. Personal picks: the title song and the beautifully shot Tum Ho Toh, sung by Vishal Mishra.
Overall, Saiyaara may not break new ground in terms of storytelling, but it strikes the right emotional chords. It’s a film that understands its audience and delivers with sincerity. It offers just enough to make you feel and that, sometimes, is more than enough.
And if you’re still hung up on the nepotism debate, Ahaan’s performance is an example that a film family name might get you through the door, but staying there takes genuine talent.
As Krish and Vaani, the driving force is the young pair of Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda. After a long time, one has found two newcomers who portray the young generation not as giggly, curvy, angry cardboard cutouts, but as rooted, rational, responsible people in flesh and blood.
While debutant Ahaan has a mercurial screen presence and combines the conviction of an actor with the charm of a star, Aneet shows shades of a dynamic performer who can make you laugh and cry. Not just a pretty, vulnerable face, she displays substantial dramatic depth in a complex role.
As Vaani, she is the voice of the film, the conscience keeper of the tumultuous love story between a budding musician facing daddy issues and a songwriter damaged by a toxic relationship. As the two heal each other, we get on a roller coaster ride interspersed with gloom and glory. The proverbial spark that gives a kick to a love story is palpable between the two and keeps the narrative afloat even when cliches raise their head and digital designs obstruct the organic flow.
The story of Vaani (Aneet Padda) and Krish (Ahaan Pandey) takes you on a journey through a world of pain, where there are many old wounds that come to the fore in the present. Krish is a person who is somewhere on the verge of becoming uncontrollable, angry and destructive in the future. On the other hand, Vaani appears easy going, peace loving and gentle, but she also has no lack of stubbornness and determination. There is a sadness and pain hidden in the lives of both characters, which swallows their every smile. This feeling is so deeply embedded in the film that no one is seen smiling for almost an entire hour. However, as the story progresses, the reason for Vaani’s behaviour becomes clear, and this fragility and strength come out together in Aneet Padda’s acting. The director has not only strengthened the female characters, but has also made clear their ability to control and self-reliance, which is a big feature of the film.