‘Saiyaara’ Movie Review: Old-School Tropes Meets Gen-Z Casting in Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda’s Kitschy Romantic Drama (LatestLY Exclusive)

Saiyaara Movie Review: The hero is the bad-boy rockstar with unresolved angst. The heroine is a shy girl-next-door nursing her own heartbreak. They meet, sparks fly. The heroine - like any Hindi film heroine - must tame the beast within her brooding man. Tragedy strikes. The lovers are separated. A soundtrack filled with wistful melodies propels the story forward. The end. Have you heard this plot before? Yes? Well, tough luck because you have to revisit it once again in Saiyaara. ‘Saiyaara’ X Review: Ahaan Panday Shines in Mohit Suri’s Musical Romance Drama Co-Starring Aneet Padda.

Saiyaara is directed by Mohit Suri who once made Aashiqui 2, and I’m not sure how title rights work, but Saiyaara could easily have been called Aashiqui 3 considering the template it follows. There clearly exists an audience for a film where a sweet-looking girl becomes the Tiger Balm to soothe an angry man’s emotional wounds - a trope that arguably reached peak intensity with Kabir Singh. Here too, the pathos overflows in both the songs and the screenplay.

'Saiyaara' Movie Review - The Plot

Vaani Batra (Aneet Padda) is ditched by her boyfriend on the very day they’re supposed to get married in court. Six months later, still reeling from the heartbreak, she meets Krish Kapoor (Ahaan Panday), a struggling musician with serious anger issues.

You know what that means: he’s a walking, talking red flag for the Censor Board, prompting the multiple 'no smoking' and 'wear helmet' disclaimers on screen. After seeing him zig-zag across the city on his bike without a helmet for the umpteenth time, even the disclaimers give up. Where are the cops when you need them?

Watch the Trailer of 'Saiyaara':

Krish is angry because his father (Varun Badola) is a drunk. This, according to the film, gives him carte blanche to drive recklessly on pavements, pick fights with strangers, and insult his own bandmates. He wants to be a musical sensation, but no one’s told him humility might help. Ironically, one of his blow-ups is because a “nepo kid” in his band is allegedly getting more attention because of his father. Meta commentary or blind irony? The film doesn't seem to know.

Anyway, Krish stumbles upon Vaani’s diary of poetry and is instantly impressed. When he lands a major music collaboration, he asks her to write his lyrics. She struggles to connect with her creativity again, and he helps her tap into her emotional depths. In turn, she soothes his inner turmoil. They fall in love, but just as Krish finds the first glimmer of success, Vaani learns a devastating truth about herself.

'Saiyaara' Movie Review - New Cast, Old Template

With the fresh pairing of Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda - two young, promising actors - Mohit Suri clearly wants to tap into the Gen Z demographic. There’s a moment in the film when a pop star collaborating with Krish says he wants 'new-age music.' But what Krish brings to the table is anything but new-age. That, in essence, sums up Saiyaara. The cast may be young, but the film is stuck in a time capsule of Rockstar and Aashiqui 2 aesthetics. Even its central twist echoes two decades-old Ajay Devgn–Kajol film.

Look, while I don’t always think old is gold, there is nothing wrong with using stuff that has been successful in the past. But when nothing fresh is brought to the formula - neither in story, character arcs, nor execution - the film feels stale. It clings to outdated ideas like 'good girls fixing bad boys' or rebels portrayed as cool and edgy despite blatant toxic traits. And the perpetual gloom saturating every scene only amplifies the emotional fatigue.

'Saiyaara' Movie Review - Too Much Gloom Keeps the Patience Away

There is a rather poetic irony here that deserved better treatment: Vaani tells Krish her inspiration comes from her memories - but what happens when memory becomes the villain? Unfortunately, Saiyaara handles this thematic tension with overripe sentimentality, blunting its emotional potential.

This gloom also hurts the second half, draining energy and flattening the emotional arcs. There are moments that nearly hit the right notes - like when Vaani’s condition worsens during one of Krish’s concerts - but the heavy-handed treatment strips them of impact. Oddly, a small scene where Vaani mistakenly calls Krish by the wrong name hit me harder. If only the film had more such quiet beats instead of wall-to-wall melodrama.

The writing (screenplay by Sankalp Sadanah) also takes convenient shortcuts. Krish is shown as a struggling artist who can’t afford to keep his father in rehab, but this doesn’t match his posh lifestyle, expensive bike, or accommodation. The scenes with Vaani’s parents (Rajesh Kumar and Geeta Agarwal) are underdeveloped because the focus is solely on the romance, even though they should be crucial, particularly when (spoiler alert) she goes missing. Not that when the focus is on them, their scenes fare better.

The film earlier has Vaani's mother berating her so harshly that she ends up hospitalised - and later, she yells at Krish, whom she just met, to marry her daughter and not break her heart. The film tries to pass it off as her being protective, but that is still some toxic protectiveness.

The songs are undoubtedly an asset to Saiyaara, and for the most part, the soundtrack complements the film’s tone and tempo. However, apart from the title track, I’m not convinced the other tracks are compelling enough to listen to on their own. Additionally, greater variation in the songs would have been welcome. Given that one of the protagonists is a supposed rockstar, does he only sing melancholic tunes? Where is the raw angst in his music? Even the concert performances lack the energy and rebellious spirit we’ve seen in films like Rockstar and Rock On!!. ‘Saiyaara’: Director Mohit Suri Feels There Can’t Be an Amazing Love Story if ‘Everything’s Hunky Dory Between the Boy and Girl’.

'Saiyaara' Movie Review - The Performances

Ahaan Panday makes a fairly strong debut. There’s a natural confidence in his body language, and he handles emotionally intense scenes well. However, his performance has a monotony to it - likely due to the direction rather than his ability. His voice also feels overly processed, like Ranbir Kapoor is voicing him through a bass filter.

Aneet Padda, who previously debuted in Salaam Venky, has a more prominent role and top billing this time. If the brief was to gaze at her man with coy, wide-eyed expressions while maintaining a subdued demeanour, she delivers convincingly. Padda actually shines brighter when she breaks free from this mould, though such moments are few.

As her parents, Rajesh Kumar (pleasantly restrained) and Geeta Agarwal are suitably cast. Meanwhile, Kota Factory’s Alam Khan - stuck playing Krish’s ever-patient sidekick and sponsor - does exactly what the role demands.Varun Badola, meanwhile, is reduced to a plot device.

'Saiyaara' Movie Review - Final Thoughts

Saiyaara wants to tug at your heartstrings with its brooding hero, doe-eyed heroine and their tragic romance saga. But instead of depth, it gives us déjà vu - an overcooked, underwritten love story that recycles familiar tropes without much insight or spark. The music tries to do the heavy lifting, but even that lacks the emotional punch needed to salvage the film. What you’re left with is an occasionally affecting but ultimately overtly familiar romantic drama that says nothing new, neither to the heart and certainly not to the genre.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2025 04:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).