Saiyaara, the recently-released romantic drama, has been making headlines. Directed by Mohit Suri, the film marks the debut of Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda. Suri appeared in IMDb’s original series ‘On The Scene’, where he shared what inspired him to make Saiyaara and why he keeps revisiting the romance genre, time and again.

On the spark and emotion that inspired Saiyaara, Suri said, “Well, there was a time post-COVID, when people were making films that were all those blockbusters, larger-than-life films where a lot of buildings were blowing up or helicopters were blowing up, tanks and cars were flying, and it almost became like a cold war of VFX shots. Everyone thought that was the norm. I think, at that time, I saw this documentary on Netflix called The Romantics, which spoke about the angry young man and how someone came up with a romantic film at that time. I suddenly started writing a newcomer romantic film because I felt love is something that can happen at all ages, but first love, first heartbreak, happens around the age of 20-25. So that's when I started writing this, and I was told by a lot of senior filmmakers that you're making a mistake, you're wasting money and time because no one's going to make a newcomer love story in today's day and age, especially not for the theatres. I just felt there was a need at that moment where I, as an audience member, wanted to watch a love story for youngsters, and here we are today.”



Speaking about why he loves making romantic dramas, Suri mentioned, “You know, this is just a personal experience. There was no thought in it. When I was 22 years of age, I was shooting a film, and I worked in a company which made thrillers and stuff like that. And suddenly, when I was shooting the love scenes, I just enjoyed that. I remember a confrontation between Shamita Shetty and Emraan Hashmi before the song ‘Woh Lamhe’ starts in Zeher. The whole drama between them, fighting, but they both love each other. And I briefed them, saying that, you know, there's a difference when you fight. Even the way how mean you are with somebody, when you love them, you think there's a different way you fight with someone. I just realized that I liked shooting that part of that film. So, I think you never decide your genre. Your genre finds you.”