Filmmaker Mohit Suri, riding high on the success of Saiyaara, opened up in an exclusive chat with NDTV about the people who stood by him from the beginning and the emotional conversations that shaped his journey.
Suri recalled how Alia Bhatt who is also his cousin has been a constant cheerleader, long before she became a star. "Alia has been a super advocate right from the teaser. We have had this relationship ever since she was a child," he said.
Reminiscing about an early memory, Suri said, "I remember coming to meet Bhatt Saab with the Woh Lamhe Woh Baatein remix video and Bhatt Saab was like, 'What is this? What have you done to the song?' And Alia, who was this young girl then, not an actress yet, just said, 'Oh! It's damn good.'"
"She's always been that cousin who is super supportive. I sent her the trailer, I asked her to come for the trial, but she said, 'I'll go to the theatre.'
She actually went with the crowd and watched it in the theatre. Then she messaged me. She's super supportive."
The Aashiqui 2 director also spoke about the rock-solid presence of Mahesh Bhatt in his life. "Bhatt Saab has been a supporter all throughout, even before this film released. I talked to him in the middle; he was very happy."
Suri revealed that Bhatt had also sent an emotional message to producer Aditya Chopra, expressing his gratitude. "He told Adi sir how thankful he is that I'm in the right hands. It was like a parent saying his son is moving into another world. Their exchange was golden."
Describing that conversation as one of the most deeply moving moments of his life, Suri said, "I can't talk much about it, but it was super emotional. Each of them giving credit to the other for me delivering this film. That was the most emotional and the most real conversation I have seen in my life actually. And that's something I'll share with my kids when I talk about what happened when Saiyaara released."
Saiyaara emerged as the second highest-grossing film of the year, setting a string of records at the box office.