Mohit Suri has crafted an old-school romantic tale in Ahaan Panday, Aneet Padda, and Shaan R. Grover’s Saiyaara. Shaan in the movie essays the role of a toxic ex-boyfriend, fiancée, ‘Mahesh Iyer’, that one girl has had in her life. He recently revealed what he felt playing the role of a red flag in ‘Vaani Batra’, a.k.a Aneet Padda’s life as shown in the film. Shaan revealed how playing such an emotionally muted character affected him in his real life. Shaan did reveal that his role as ‘Mahesh’ in reality made him feel uncomfortable around women.
Shaan R Grover reveals he is not a red flag in reality, like his character, ‘Mahesh Iyer’, in Saiyaara
Shaan sat down for an interview with FilmyGyan and shared how his role as ‘Mahesh’ in reality made him uneased around girls. As seen in Saiyaara, his character is shown to be in a five-year-long relationship with ‘Vaani’. They are about to get married, and on the wedding day, he ditches her, which leaves her traumatised. ‘Mahesh’ then is seen coming back into Vaani’s life out of sheer coincidence, tries his luck, trying to take advantage. Shaan was disturbed when he played the role of ‘Mahesh’ and shared:
“I am not trying to show anybody ki mein aisa nahi hoon waisa nahi hoon. I don’t care ki mein kaisa hoon, but to play a negative character around girls, because I have never been like that.”
Shaan did share that his character’s toxic traits did challenge his set of values. For him to step into the role of ‘Mahesh’ was creatively challenging, as he had to showcase someone detached and emotionally muted. Shaan also shared that playing the role of a man who ghosted his fiancée and walked away without any closure made him uneasy. He knew that users may not like his behaviour and shared that Mahesh was hated. He knew his character deserved the hate, but the thought of him being personally associated as a red flag did make him feel unsettled during the shooting.
More about Shaan R Grover
Shaan, who is from Delhi, had gone to the Modern School before he studied at Jai Hind College in Mumbai. Shaan had begun his journey from behind the cameras and then had worked as an assistant director on the sets of Sanam Teri Kasam. Shaan then trained as an actor under the guidance of the famous casting director, Shanoo Sharma. Shaan sharpened his acting chops by doing theatre, workshops and giving endless auditions. Shaan was then seen in Netflix’s movie, Nobleman and in web series such as Roohaniyat, Leaked and Dus June Ki Raat. Despite having a lot of setbacks, Shaan did face the pain of being replaced by starkids, social media influencers. He did auditioned for over a thousand roles since years but never gave up on hope.
Saiyaara crosses the Rs. 100 crore mark in four days from release
Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara made waves at the box office. The movie that released on July 18, 2025, in four days had crossed the Rs. 100 crore mark. It became the only Indian movie which was led by two newcomers- Ahaan and Aneet to create and reach the milestone. The movie has also given, Shaan a big breakthrough on the big screen.
What are your views on Shaan R Grover sharing that he is not a real flag like ‘Mahesh Iyer’ in Saiyaara?
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