While Aneet Padda is being flooded with compliments for her performance as Vaani Batra in Mohit Suri's Saiyaara, it took the director 5 months to find her. In conversation with Bollywood Hungama, the Saiyaara director revealed why it was not an easy task to find the perfect girl to play his female lead in the film.
What's Happening
- Mohit Suri recently revealed his criteria to get the perfect 20-22-year-old young girl for his character Vaani Batra in Saiyaara. The role was eventually played by Aneet Padda, who was a perfect fit.
- Mohit Suri told Bollywood Hungama, "It took 4, 5 months to find this girl. Sorry if I'm not sounding too politically correct. One thing that was scary was that I wanted a young 20- to 22-year-old girl who had not done anything cosmetically to her face or body, and that's difficult to find in today's day and age. Can you imagine? I didn't think it would be that big a requirement. But it was."
- The filmmaker added, "That was a major requirement. I didn't expect it to be such a big requirement. Not only that, I needed someone who felt real, someone who hadn't something to themselves. She had done some work before, and she was brilliant at it."
- "She just fit right in. We often have the wrong idea of what small-town India is like-they're actually more conventionally 'out there' than we are. She had more to share with me than I had with her, " concluded Mohit Suri.
- Mohit Suri also added how the casting director Shanoo Sharma had vouched for Aneet Padda, saying that she's very good.
Saiyaara Collections So Far
Produced by Yash Raj Films, Saiyaara has passed the Rs 100 crore mark on Day 4 of its release.
Saiyaara minted Rs 22.50 crore on its first Monday, taking the total to Rs 105.75 crore at the domestic box office, as per Sacnilk.
The Monday numbers saw a slight dip in earnings, but it didn't impact the film's meteoric rise at the box office.
After scripting history as one of the top 5 highest opening weekends of this year, Saiyaara became the seventh highest-grossing film of 2025.
In A Nutshell
Mohit Suri revealed what made Aneet Padda a perfect fit for the female lead in Saiyaara. He also spoke about the characteristics he was on the lookout for and eventually found them in Aneet Padda.
