Yash Raj Films’ Saiyaara, directed by Mohit Suri, has broken a years-long drought of romantic Bollywood movies. Starring two debutants, Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, the film has received huge praise. Amidst this cheer, Saiyaara is also being compared to the cult classic Aashiqui franchise. Reports were also circulating that the director of the third instalment, Anurag Basu, is re-writing the script to avoid his Kartik Aaryan and Sreeleela-starrer film being similar to Saiyaara. The director has finally broken his silence regarding these claims.
Anurag Basu says there is very minor similarity between Aashiqui 3 and Saiyaara
Twelve years ago, there was anticipation among the people for the release of Aashiqui 2, starring two newcomers, Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor. A third instalment to the film, Aashiqui 3, starring Kartik Aaryan and Sreeleela, is also in the pipeline. However, it has failed to garner the same excitement among fans. Meanwhile, the newly released Mohit Suri film, Saiyaara, is being hailed as the new generation Aashiqui. Amid this, people are speculating that Aashiqui 3 director, Anurag Basu is changing the script to avoid similarities after the success of Saiyaara.
However, Anurag Basu has clarified in an interview with Mid-day that the similarities between his upcoming film, Aashiqui 3 and Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara are minuscule. The director noted that the only resemblance between the two films is that the main lead is a rockstar, and the story follows his journey. In the interview, Anurag was quoted as saying:
“Mohit and I are very close. I’m happy for his film’s success. The only similarity in our films is that the male lead is a rockstar, and the story is about his journey.”
Anurag Basu says that Mohit Suri had narrated the story of Saiyaara to him
Anurag Basu said that he and Mohit Suri share a good relationship. As a result, the latter had already narrated the story of Saiyaara to him. One of the most significant plot points of Saiyaara is the female lead suffering from Alzheimer’s. Anurag said that he already knew this about Mohit Suri’s film, and hence why would he write a similar plot for Aashiqui 3? Hence, they aren’t rescripting or reshooting the film, and all such claims are false. Anurag said:
“In my film, the girl doesn’t have dementia or any other condition. We are not rewriting or re-shooting. I knew beforehand that the girl had Alzheimer’s disease in Saiyaara. So, why would I write the same in mine?”
It is also interesting to note that Mohit Suri, the director of Saiyaara, revealed in an interview with The Indian Express that the story of Saiyaara was supposed to be Aashiqui 3. However, things did not pan out, and he made the film as a new standalone, backed by Yash Raj Films. T-series, the producers of Aashiqui 2, on the other hand, took Anurag Basu on board to direct the third instalment.
What are your thoughts on Anurag Basu dismissing the claims that Aashiqui 2 is not being re-scripted after Saiyaara‘s release?
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