3 min readMumbaiMar 3, 2026 09:27 AM IST
With Mohit Suri’s surprise romantic blockbuster Saiyaara, debutants Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda firmly etched their names into the public imagination. Upon release, the film quickly snowballed into a cultural moment, dominating social media feeds with reels and clips of audiences openly weeping inside packed theatres. Among the many viral moments, one clip stood out: a man in Mumbai watching the film while hooked up to an IV drip. That very clip became emblematic of the film’s emotional pull. In a recent interview with Esquire India, Ahaan admitted he is still taken aback by the incident.
“You know what, that was actually a person who had dialysis, Mohit sir found out later because we were curious about how all of this was happening,” he said. After the clip went viral, many netizens believed this was a promotional strategy by the makers as tehy found it hard to believe.
Reflecting on why the film struck such a deep chord with viewers, he offered his perspective, “I feel people reacted to it this way because for so many years we had such a set way of thinking about how things had to be done. It became so rigid. Maybe people just wanted something with artists not trying to be perfect, and this film allowed that. Romance is not perfect. Love is never perfect.”
Ahaan also revealed that shortly after the film’s release, and at the height of its success, he underwent a major surgery, which he described as “one of the most painful surgeries” one can go through. “I actually got a whole surgery done after the release of Saiyaara last year, And it’s one of the most painful surgeries you can do, with the longest recovery time,” he said. The procedure stemmed from a snowmobile accident several years ago that left him with a shoulder subluxation. The lingering injury hindered his fitness goals and ultimately pushed him to seek corrective surgery before beginning his next action feature with Ali Abbas Zafar.
According to Ahaan, doctors warned him that post-surgery his body would “go back to zero,” making it “nearly impossible” to achieve the physique required for the film. Determined, he said he managed to “prove everyone wrong”. “I used to feel motivated by actors who had dramatic gym transformations. But that was usually from a certain unhealthy body type to a healthy one. This was different; I went from being injured, to not being able to move, to not being able to lift, to being able to lift,” he said. He also noted that he spent months immobilised in a cast without public attention. “I don’t know how nobody realised” he added.
Ahaan’s next film is an action-romance with Ali Abbas Zafar. The film is also said to star Sharvari, who will soon be seen with Alia Bhatt in Alpha.
