It’s taken me 20 years to be here: Mohit Suri

Sonal Kalra (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 2, 2025)

Saiyaara has broken global records and won hearts over the past two weeks. The craze reached unprecedented levels, with people thronging the theatres, and the Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda-starrer transitioned from being a young love story to a phenomenon. On The Right Angle with Sonal Kalra this week, we got the captain of the ship, director Mohit Suri, to decode the film:

Saiyaara has got a great response. How does it feel?
It feels good to receive this love. I have been spending time with my wife (Uditaa Goswami; actor) after the release, she’s been asking me to do household things (laughs). But I take some time for myself daily from 6.30 pm to 9 pm, as I get calls from all over the country. I’ve told her to just let me feel the love. It’s taken me 20 years to be here.

Akshay Kumar (actor) recently joined us on our show and praised you, saying if Mohit handles the music and directs, it’s always great. What would you say about it?
He has known me since I was a child, assisting on the sets of (Awara Paagal Deewana; 2002) with Vikram Bhatt (filmmaker). We tried to work together a couple of times, but things never fell into place. Even when Aashiqui 2 (2013) and Ek Villain (2014) had done well [he encouraged me]. He never lost faith in me. For him to come out there publicly... It’s something very few people do. What else can I ask for?

Was there a moment while working on Saiyaara when you knew the film would strike it so big?
We were shooting the piano scene, when Vaani (Aneet’s character) gets Krish’s (Ahaan’s character) name wrong. The way Ahaan gave that shot, and the way Aneet spoke... that was the day. I turned to our creative producer (Sumana Ghosh) and said, “I don’t know about the fate of this film, but I know we are making a great one”. When Adi sir (Aditya Chopra, producer) saw the movie in its loosest form, he said, “No matter how much this opens at, it’s going to do at least Rs. 100 crore”. I was in class eight when I saw his movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) in the theatre. I said, “This is the kind of film I want to make someday”. For him to say this... that’s what an experienced producer should do. That’s when we felt we were making something special. While the collections are most welcome, this love is something I really wanted.

Saiyaara has led to intense triggering of emotions in people. There are viral videos of people tearing their clothes and crying their hearts out in theatres. Did you see them?
I’d forgotten that I have made a career out of people with heartbreaks. When I go home from office at night and see some boys on Carter Road (Mumbai), listening to Toh Phir Aao from my film Awarapan (2007), I don’t mess with them, as they are heartbroken (laughs). My music, like Sunn Raha Hai and Tum Hi Ho (both from Aashiqui 2, 2013) has lived with people for a really long time.

The film’s music has become hugely popular, the title track entered Spotify’s gobal charts. Did you get time to party with the musicians?
Yes, it was a last minute thing. Ahaan (Panday, actor) and I’d gone to Mount Mary’s church in Mumbai at midnight. Then we went to my office to celebrate after the release. He surprised me by calling Saiyaara’s singer Faheem Abdullah in the middle of the night. I have seen this popularity with Woh Lamhe (2007) and Galliyan (from 2014’s Ek Villain). The magic only gets better, and it’s scary. You’re expected to do it again and again. At the moment, it feels so good. I would feel let down if I didn’t let them (Ahaan and actor Aneet Padda) have the same success and position that I probably helped others reach.

You decided to work with newcomers, not just for the music, but also the leads. Were there people who maybe said, ‘We need a couple of big names to make the film financially viable’?
I’ve been working with newcomers all my life. The only stars I worked with are Emraan Hashmi and Vidya (Balan) in Hamari Adhuri Kahaani (2015), and John Abraham in Ek Villain Returns (2022). It was easy for me to decide on newcomers because the story required age appropriate casting. It’s easy when you have a leading production house backing you, with access to all the big stars in the industry. Adi (Aditya Chopra) did tell me, ‘Between you and me, we can get anyone in the industry for this film. My distribution and marketing team will be happy, too. But if you make Saiyaara with established people, it won’t work.’

I have to completely credit Akshaye Widhani (producer) and Aditya Chopra. I can be the dreamer who wants to do this, but for someone to back your conviction, people have to put their money where their mouth is.

Saiyaara didn’t go the traditional PR route — no reality show visits, no media interviews. Whose idea was it?
We had a PR meeting once, everyone was very charged. It was so good, the plan was what everyone was doing. But we all looked at each other and said, ‘This is not the film.’ I had a talk with the marketing team and said, ‘I don’t know the last time people went and watched a film because they saw the lead cast playing Truth and Dare, or being asked questions like, ‘Who is the bigger prankster on set?’ or asking the newcomers ‘What was it like working with Mohit Suri?’ I said we should talk about their work. Even when the poster was supposed to come out, we said let’s release the song in theatres, because most so-called newcomers are nowadays being launched directly on OTT. This is a theatre film. No comedy shows, no reality shows.