‘I don’t find more genuine actors than anit padda and ahaan pandey’ | ‘I do not get more true actors than Anit Padda-Aan Pandey’: Mohit Suri said-Senior filmmaker said that you are wasting time by making a lovestory like ‘Saira’.

Anit Padda and Ahaan Pandey starrer film ‘Saira’ is going to release on 18 July. People are very fond of the trailer and song of the film. Anit-Aan’s pair is also getting the love of the audience. Mohit Suri is bringing a musical love story on the big screen after three years through ‘Saira’. Mohit has told the story of the film’s casting, singing process and Yash Raj Films joining in a conversation with Dainik Bhaskar.

What does ‘Saira’ mean for you and what challenges came while making it?

We feel that we are making films but every film has its own life. Saira came into my life on a moment when my previous films did not work. Kovid was immediately over and people were making a special kind of films. Bold, controversial and actions on the OTT were being made on action, larger than life type films. At that time everyone was screaming. I felt that if I shouted at that time, my voice would have been buried somewhere.

Both of them are making their debut with this film.

In such a situation, I thought that I tell different tunes. Play a music. I write a young love story. I remember that at that time a very senior filmmaker said that you are wasting your money and time. In this environment, no one is going to make a love story of youngsters.

I still told my Assistant Sankalp Sadan that I have an idea, you write it. We both worked on it. Sankalp is the screenplay writer of this film and Rohan Shankar is a dialogue writer. Both of them wrote this full story at my behest. Yash Raj was nowhere in this film. I did not know that Aditya Chopra and Akshay Vidhani were searching for a love story. When I came to know, I met him through creative producer Sumna Ghosh. I had made myself so much in the story that I had also talked to my two-three actor friend. I told him to do this love story for me. He had also filled up.

But when I met Adi Sir, he asked me why do you want to make this film with these people? This story is needed by actors of 20-25 years and you want to take those more than thirty. I told him that there is also to sell the picture, but also to sell the picture. In such a situation, he said that my marketing team will be happy to hear this but you are making a wrong film. This film should contain newcomers. Then I said that if I put money on the newcomers, then they came to the answer that I will invest.

Anit’s screen presence is quite good. He has worked earlier as well but he has not got success. Will this film change things for them?

It seems that the mother is praising her children. I just know that more true actors could not be found for my film than these. I am grateful to them both. His hunger to work in this film, he might never give a successful actor. If he has seen failure, then he is hungry to see success. Anit did some work even before, but the success he should have got was not found.

Anit has played a small role in Kajol’s film ‘Salaam Venky’.

There is something similar with Ahaan. If his first film is not made, then his emotion, his heartbreak, my film was very useful for my film. You will understand when you watch the film. A film is made with these small things. It is said that if that pain will also work for you, then I have used the same pain in my film.

What was the process of casting of Ahaan and Aniti? It was heard that Ahaan was asked to recreate some famous scene?

Yes, this happened but I believe it is not a fair. The famous scene has left an impression by speaking the famous scene. If someone else does it, then he is judged on how close to that performance is. You do not enjoy until you do the original scene. Ahaan did scenes of ‘Kabir Singh’, ‘Band Baja Baaraat’, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ but I did not agree with that audition. However, Ahaan performed well. One day Aditya sir told me that you go to dinner with Ahaan and then look at him. We went and I told Ahaan that night not to speak my head, call me Mohit.

Ahaan started speaking directly in 15 minutes. We kept roaming around the night. Around two and a half o’clock in the night, I realized that he was in the character of my film. He entered the character and became Krish Kapoor. I am not joking or this is not a fake story. We met not to work together but seeing Ahaan, I felt that it could become Krish Kapoor. The next day I told Adi Sir that I want to work with Ahaan.

A lot of girls also auditioned for the role of Vani. There is no doubt that all those girls were very good. However, nothing was being fixed. We wanted a simple girl from the Punjabi background. Who has a value system of its own but she is a new age girl. Nowadays we underestimate simplicity. I was not getting the simplicity I wanted for the role of Vani. But then I saw an audition of Anit, in which she was amazing. All the credit for this goes to the casting director Shanu Sharma, who called him. They have groom and casting. Anit played his original style in every audition.

Ahaan has worked as an assistant director for Yash Raj Films.

Seeing Anit-Aan’s chemistry after the trailer and songs, the audience says that the film should be named Aashiqui-3. What would you like to say?

See, Aashiqui for me was over at that level. I could not add anything else to it. He is an iconic film in itself. I want that after seeing the work of these two children, people will further say that Saira 2 should be made. Both of them should have their own identity. Ahaan does not need to be the next Aditya Roy Kapoor or Rahul Roy. He remained Ahaan Pandey. Exactly, Aniti does not need to become Shraddha Kapoor. I think people are comparing with my film. Not from any other film of Yash Raj. In such a situation, I have a victory somewhere.

Any beautiful thing or memorable moment you want to share?

It was a beautiful thing for me to see Ahaan-Anti’s desire for success in his eyes. Seeing our own success, we get stuck in a hit-flop game. I remember that we were shooting a scene of Saira song, in which Ahaan comes on stage and his footage runs on a big screen. You must have seen this scene in the trailer.

Seeing himself in that footage, Ahaan had the same glow in his eyes that I saw in Emraan Hashmi’s eyes, when his first film came. I saw this glow in Kangana’s eyes, when her film ‘Gangster’ came. We were walking in the city and Kangana was surprised to see her hoardings.

Mohit Suri stepped into direction from the film ‘Poison’ in 2005.

At the time of ‘Aashiqui 2’, I saw Shraddha and Aditya in my eyes, when the three of us were traveling for promotion and both flight staff surrounded. I had taken a photo of both of them at that time. Even today when both of them get a call, that photo flash on my phone. This glow was also in Ahaan and Anit’s eyes. I think it is fun in my own success and defeat, but being part of someone else’s success gives different happiness.