Ananya Panday’s cousin and Chunky Panday’s nephew, Ahaan Panday made a stellar Bollywood debut this year with Mohit Suri’s film Saiyaara. Ahaan and his co-star Aneet Padda did something that many fresh faces have been unable to do in the last few years — bring audiences to theatres despite being newcomers. Apart from the soulful soundtracks, their sizzling chemistry and impeccable performances, Saiyaara was lauded for its intense scenes and memorable dialogues, many of which soon went viral. For instance, the time when Ahaan paid tribute to ace cricketer Virat Kohli, or broke down on the cricket pitch.
In a scene that turned things around for the lead characters, Ahaan Panday broke down and asked Aneet Padda for help after she extended support to him, on finding out about his father’s condition. It was vulnerable and heart wrenching. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, when asked how he did it, Ahaan shared that he just did. He explained that there was no strong thought process, and he just followed his heart. Ahaan was quoted saying, “For the character, I had to tap into things before. During the auditioning process, we’d always create the scenes; [so when I was on set] I just let go of everything. I had to let go of the habit of directing myself. I completely surrendered and submitted to sir.”
Ahaan went on to explain, “I didn’t plan anything: we’d just learn the lines on the way because we wanted to be raw and real. We’d learn 80 per cent of the lines, because we didn’t want it to be very mechanical. There were a couple of days where I was like, ‘I have to go back to that; I have to rehearse,’ but the greatest thing was Mohit sir trusted us so much. There were times we went completely off-key, and he worked his magic; but other times he just believed that these two kids would pull it off.”
Fans are now eagerly waiting for Ahaan to announce his next film.
