'Saiyaara': How Film's Music and YRF's Strategy of Keeping Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda Away From Promotions Paid Off

When filmmaker Mohit Suri's romantic drama Saiyaara was gearing up for its promotional campaign, few could have predicted the box-office storm that was brewing. The genre, which has struggled post-pandemic to put up big opening numbers, is now set to be revived thanks to a film led by fresh faces, debutant Ahaan Panday and actor Aneet Padda.

As you read this, Saiyaara will script history as not only the biggest opening day for a film starring newcomers, but also surpassing several heavyweights in the genre headlined by superstars. A huge section in the industry had pegged Saiyaara to open under ₹5 crore, but now the film is aiming to clock anywhere between ₹20 to 25 crore, depending on the showcasing it gets.

"All predictions till one week back about the expected ₹ 1.50 or 2 crore opening for Saiyaara only serve to underline one thing: predictive analysis and film trade biz are not everyone’s cup of tea," veteran trade analyst Komal Nahta posted on the eve of the film's release.

What truly worked in favour of Saiyaara, transforming it from a mid-sized film to a tentpole romantic event, was the chartbuster soundtrack, and especially the Irshad Kamil-penned title track composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Arslan Nizami, and Faheem Abdullah, who also sang the song.

The song quickly climbed the charts and, as expected, made its way to Instagram Reels. Industry insiders say that the makers' decision to only let the music do the talking, before they dropped the trailer—which was well received by the target audience—positioned Saiyaara as an unmissable event film.

YRF took a gamble and kept its two lead pairs away from any media interaction, influencer tie-ups, mall visits, dancing in public or getting papped drinking coffee as part of bizarre promotions (adapted by almost every other film, including Loveyapa, which marked the big screen debut of Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor).

This ensured that the only talking point about Saiyaara remained its music and visual units and not what the actors spoke or what they wore. A similar strategy of keeping the media away had worked with Pathaan, where Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham did only one public appearance in India: a post-film celebration conference.

With Saiyaara, YRF placed the media narrative on the experienced shoulders of Suri, who skilfully kept the campaign on course, smartly stating in an interview that Saiyaara could have been Aashiqui 3, instantly equating the film with the hit musical franchise.

"Where they (self-proclaimed trade) went wrong was in assessing the power of YRF’s promotion strategy of not revealing the lead pair in a single interview so far," Nahta said in his tweet.

"They also underestimated the power of hit music and kickass teasers and trailers. Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda’s is the best launch of two newcomers in the last decade. Get ready for not just a good or great but an outstanding start to Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara," he added.

The film is poised to take a smashing start at the box-office and if the reviews are on the positive side, Saiyaara will have a huge weekend.