"We needed youngsters": Mohit Suri on why he decided to cast Ahaan Panday, Aneet Padda in 'Saiyaara'

In a conversation with ANI, he said, "I always felt that when you listen to a romantic dhun, usually, or any other dhun, it always takes you back to a moment, whether it is the first rain, first love, first meeting, friendship or anything else. I think that music, love, and memories are connected to each other. I found this idea very intriguing. I told my assistant, Sankalp Sadanah, who is a very capable boy. I discussed this idea and said I think this can be made into a movie. He wrote this story..."

Known for films like 'EK Villian' and 'Aashiqui 2', Mohit Suri shared how the casting for the film happened and why he decided to take fresh faces for his project. "Us waqt jab hum likh rahe the hume pata tha hume youngsters chahiye kyunki ye pehle pyar ki baat thi..(At that time, when we were writing, we knew that we needed youngsters for this because we are talking about first love)..But at that time, we didn't have a producer, studio or an actor. We just knew that we had to make this story. I think we don't make films, they are made by themselves. "

On featuring Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda in the film, he added, "This is not my first experience working with newcomers. Be it actors or musicians or music directors, I have launched someone or the other in every film. I don't give a chance to fresh people in fact I believe that they keep me relevant and fresh. They are doing their work, but I try to learn from them....Classically, emotions are the same but when you work with fresh talent, their vision, way of speaking, their style keeps you relevant."

Earlier, Suri revealed that 'Saiyaara' album consists of songs and melodies that he has "carefully collected and curated for over five years.

"One thing that only a handful of close friends know about me is that I love meeting new composers, singers, collecting melodies and songs, much like people who love reading collect books.So, the album of Saiyaara has my songs, thoughts, and melodies, which I have carefully collected and curated for over five years," said Mohit Suri as per the press note by the makers.

Mohit said that he wanted to give audiences a supremely fresh album with beautiful, soulful melodies for 'Saiyaara'.

He added, "I wanted to make an extremely fresh romantic album for a debutant film. The album of Saiyaara is very close to my heart. So, every song of this album feels really special. We are starting our marketing campaign by dropping the Saiyaara title track first. There is so much love, longing and heart in this song that I fell in love with it instantly."

'Saiyaara's title track also features the launch of two exciting musical artists from Kashmir.

Mohit revealed, "Saiyaara title track will also see us launch Faheem Abdullah and Arslan Nizami, two extremely talented Indian composers and singers (from Kashmir) to Bollywood. The track has been composed by the genius Tanishk Bagchi, who I thank for making me meet Faheem and Arslan. The beautiful lyrics are written by the maestro Irshad Kamil."

'Saiyaara' introduces Ahaan Panday, the cousin of Ananya Panday. It is produced by the company's CEO, Akshaye Widhani, and it is set to release on July 18, 2025, in theatres worldwide. (ANI)