Ahaan Panday's debut film with Mohit Suri titled Saiyaara, release date announced

Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda

Filmmaker Mohit Suri's upcoming intense love story with Yash Raj Films (YRF) has been titled 'Saiyaara'. The film that also marks the debut of Ahaan Panday (Ananya Panday's cousin) has been locked for a July 18 release on the big screen. The film also marks the debut of actress Aneet Padda as the female lead. This is the first film being produced by the company's CEO Akshaye Widhani. The film is presented by Aditya Chopra, directed by Mohit Suri and Produced by Akshaye Widhani.

It was last year in February, when Ahaan's debut was announced. The nephew of actor Chunky Panday, Ahaan was signed as a YRF Talent almost about six years back to go through intense training programmes devised personally by Aditya Chopra.

Ahaan Panday's debut

As Ahaan's debut was announced, a source at that time said, "Ahaan has been shaped by Aditya Chopra personally for years. He has been kept under wraps by YRF so that he can focus on bettering his craft."

"To the industry, Ahaan Panday's launch is by far the biggest debut by a youngster in the Hindi film industry in years and YRF is showing its intent to create a star out of him. The massive project that he has been signed on for is the Mohit Suri love story!"

Music plays an integral part in Saiyaara

In March this year, Mid-day had reported that Suri has been shooting a music festival sequence with 1,000 background artistes at Vrundavan Studios in Malad. The sequence sees Panday's character performing on stage as the crowd sways to his music. Leading lady Aneet Padda, who was seen in Big Girls Don't Cry (2024), too is part of the set-piece. A source reveals, "The set-up is massive - pulsating lights, LED screens, smoke machines, and a roaring crowd of over 1,000, all moving in sync to the music. Mid-performance, Ahaan's character is seen jumping off the stage and wooing the audience. Suri, who has a keen eye for music-driven storytelling, has tried to capture the electric energy of a music festival." The sequence will be wrapped up by the weekend, and with it, the yet-untitled movie will reach the finish line.

About Mohit Suri

Talking about the director, Mohit worked as an assistant director in Vikram Bhatt's films Kasoor, Awara Paagal Deewana and Footpath. He made his directorial debut with the moderately successful Zeher and then directed movies like Kalyug, Woh Lamhe, Awarapan, Raaz: The Mystery Continues and Crook.

The director gained the spotlight with 'Murder 2', 'Aashiqui 2', 'Ek Villain' and 'Malang' among many others. His upcoming films also include an yet-untitled movie with Varun Dhawan and Malang 2 along with Saiyaara.

In the past, YRF has given out popular stars such as Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Ayushmann Khurrana, and many more.