'Love That Endures Pain': Mohit Suri on Relearning Filmmaking With ‘Saiyaara'

Time of India

7 hours ago

Director Mohit Suri's latest romantic drama, 'Saiyaara,' starring debutants Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, became a journey of rediscovery for him. Backed by Aditya Chopra of Yashraj Films, Suri initially hesitated to cast newcomers but was encouraged to embrace fresh talent. Suri found Ahaan's true character during an informal outing and was impressed by Aneet's audition.
For director
Mohit Suri
, making Saiyaara wasn't just about crafting another romantic drama — it became an experience of rediscovery, emotionally and artistically. Featuring debutants
Ahaan Panday
and
Aneet Padda
, the film challenged Suri to unlearn what he knew, trust instinct over industry norms, and lean into the unpredictability of working with raw, unfiltered talent.
Mohit Suri Spills On 20 Years In Bollywood - Ahaan & Aneet, Alia Bhatt Dream Collab & More
'My wife, in fact, when she gets into a very serious fight with me, sometimes she gets angry and tells me that you put all your emotions in your song. You are not like this in real life,' Suri reflects. 'But I think, for me, definingly, that love has its good times also. People tend to celebrate only that. But true love is that, that even endures the bad times. If there is love, there will be pain. If there is happiness, there will be sadness.
So I just explore it a little more than other people do.'
That emotional duality — joy and sorrow, passion and pain — has always been a defining thread in Suri's films. But with Saiyaara, the drama unfolded off screen too, especially during casting. Despite being backed by a powerful studio, Mohit was hesitant to pitch newcomers.
'Ahaan was someone who was in the system. And honestly, when I came with the script, I was feeling afraid to say that it is a newcomer film.
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And they asked me who I wanted to cast, because being Yashraj, they had access to every star in the industry.'Aditya Chopra, however, offered Suri a creative safety net — and a challenge.'Aditya SIr was the one who said that my distribution team and everyone will be happy with me if I cast known people.
But the fact is, your film requires new people… Will you make it with new people? I said, I'd love to. I didn't know you be able to spend that much money on the film.
And he said, I will do it. " I must give him and Akshay Widhwani that credit for it.'
Ahaan Panday had been part of the YRF system for a while, but Suri wasn't immediately sold.'I saw his footage. I was not sure. Adi sir kind of knew it. So Adi sir told him that I am going to tell him that he has not got the film. So we went out on this. But he said hang out with the boy or whatever.'That hangout changed everything.'First I met him in my office.
And the whole 'sir, sir, sir' thing came and he was horrible. So I told Adi sir, Akshay that you all said he is like this but he is full a good boy and this that.
That's not what my role is. Then they said I don't want to meet him again.''So we went out for a very formal dinner. But I realized there was some spark in the boy. So then I told him now take me out where you would go out. So he took me to a young night club. And we hung out till 3–4 o'clock.
By the time it was late at night I saw the character in him.''I think when the camera goes off and when you are not performing, that's when your real audition should start. So I cheated him a bit in that way. That's how I found out the real person behind him.'
In contrast, discovering Aneet Padda was a longer but more straightforward journey.'Aneet on the other hand was someone who was giving auditions with everyone and everybody was talking about how she acts and how good she is.
I was just floored by seeing her audition. It took 4 months to find her.'
'At the same time there were other directors like
Anurag Basu
and
Kunal Deshmukh
and all who were very interested in her. Because of her performance levels and how good of an actor she is' he added.
And while the performances fell into place, the directing process still demanded adjustment — especially when Suri caught himself trying to replicate what had worked in the past.'You have to see it through their eyes. Like I remember I was making them do the shot in a particular way of how I had done it and then I realised that that was what I would probably do with a Siddharth or Aditya Roy Kapoor. But it was not landing on them.Then I remembered that when I was Aditya Roy Kapoor in Aashiqui, I had to unlearn what I had done with
Emraan Hashmi
. So what I had to do was to see it from their point of view and ask them to do it and then see what I liked from it..The angst, the possessiveness remains the same but you have to let them do it their way. Otherwise you will make them behave like people of the past. So I think that's the one thing that with new people you start learning again.'