Saiyaara: Why Gen Z can't stop loving Ahaan Pandey-Aneet Padda film?

Indian Express

22-07-2025

There's been a clear appetite building among the new generation of audiences for a heartfelt, all-consuming love story, and Mohit Suri's Saiyaara seems to have arrived right on cue. It's been a long time since Bollywood delivered a romance of this scale, sincerity, and emotional intensity. What's interesting is that Gen Z has grown up watching films like Rockstar, Tamasha, Laila Majnu, Sanam Teri Kasam, and look at the pattern here: most of these didn't work commercially when they were first released. Why? They were looking for the right audience. They were waiting for the right ears to listen. Turns out, they were waiting for Gen Z. These are the films Gen Z discovered, obsessed over, and grew up with. And now, when most of them got re-released, in the last two years, or found second lives on streaming and in special screenings, they've done brilliantly. Over the years, if you've scrolled through Instagram, chances are you've come across every other reel featuring someone young, fanboying over these films. Which proves the point: there's always been a market for intense love stories that hurt as well as heal. The industry just wasn't tapping into it properly.
That's why, in a dark theatre, when audiences saw Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda as Krish and Vaani, they felt for them, deeply. Because they saw themselves in them. Viewers had grown tired of watching the same established stars pair up in film after film, often with little chemistry and performances overshadowed by their own stardom. In contrast, Saiyaara offered something refreshing: two new faces who felt real, vulnerable, and entirely relatable. The kind of people you might actually spot at a coffee shop or an open mic night. This relatability struck a powerful emotional chord. A huge part of that impact was also thanks to the unconventional marketing strategy by Yash Raj Films, specifically by director Mohit Suri and producer Aditya Chopra. The lead pair was intentionally kept away from all promotional activity before the film's release — there were no interviews, no hyperglam photos on Instagram, no 'accidental' sighting by the paparazzi. On the contrary, both Ahaan and Aneet appeared to be on an Insta detox for months at end. Saiyaraa is the most low-key launch of a lead pair since Instagram. Even now, YRF doesn't intend to do a media blitzkrieg with them and their social media is only about the film.
#Saiyaaraa a musical journey I never thought i will like this movie but I loved it both actor performance were good but fL performance was in another level ahaan should work on his facial expression songs were good but last song 🔥I got goosebumps theatre experience was very good pic.twitter.com/ev67xHaG5g
— Rishi Gupta (@rishig51) July 19, 2025
Also Read | In Saiyaara's final act, Mohit Suri channels the best of Aditya Chopra's brand of romance
In fact, Aditya reportedly mentored Ahaan over the past few years, asking him, unlike many other 'nepo-kids' — to seriously focus on his craft and avoid any PR or media exposure. Similarly, Mohit Suri chose Aneet because he wanted a girl who looked simple and unpolished, someone the audience could instantly connect with. He has even spoken about looking for youngsters who have not cosmetically enhanced their faces. And now, with Saiyaara becoming such a breakout success, comparisons are being drawn to earlier iconic debuts, like Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai (which launched Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel), and even further back, to Maine Pyaar Kiya and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (which introduced Salman Khan and Aamir Khan respectively). Another factor working in Saiyaara's favour is the return of Mohit Suri, a director whose body of work resonates deeply with the Gen Z audience. His filmography reads like the playlist of a generation: Woh Lamhe, Awarapan, Raaz 2, Murder 2, Aashiqui 2, Ek Villain, Hamari Adhuri Kahani, Half Girlfriend. While not all of them are loved, they did make him a household name. With Saiyaara, Suri seems to have delivered his most polished, mature, and crowd-pleasing film yet.
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And of course, the music. As Karan Johar once said, nothing works better than a well-made heartbreak song, and Saiyaara seems to have taken that to heart. At its core, the film plays like a playlist of soul-stirring songs, all stitched together by an intense, aching love story between the leads. It also brings up an interesting point, watching Saiyaara in a packed theatre reveals just how perfectly it speaks to Gen Z. This is a generation of audiences that lives both in the moment and through their phones, capturing everything for reels, snaps, stories, and posts. It's a strange fixation: to live presently, but also virtually. And Saiyaara gives them the perfect backdrop. From soaring musical moments to gorgeously framed emotional beats, the film offers scene after scene that feels made to be recorded, shared, and remembered. It's almost like being at a concert, your favorite song playing, your phone in hand, and your heart wide open. It's like sitting in a theatre and suddenly remembering why we fell in love with going to the movies in the first place.