Saiyaara - Review
Aditya Chopra picks a boy from the Sandeep Reddy Vanga Universe, puts him in Mohit Suri’s world of love, and gives it an Ashiqui-esque backdrop!
That’s Saiyaara! A pack of love wrapped in fire!!
Saiyaara is opening crowds from corridors that will surprise many, even the best of trade analysts!
The movie should be covered on three fronts:
1. The genius that Aditya Chopra is!
Written off half a decade back for Befikre, the 55-year-old gives love cult to GenZ — a genre both Aditya Chopra and Yash Raj had given up on after the 90s! This movie feels a lot less like a Yash Raj movie and a lot more like a Mohit Suri movie — where the melodrama is not soft, every expression needs BGM, and there is a pace in how emotions move through the storyline. Yes, none of it is the trademark YRF — and yet it worked! That’s the genius of Aditya Chopra. This time he was not creating the Raj and Rahul (The touch of which faded in 2000s), neither he was creating a Suri. Aditya Chopra was out and out dead sure about the paradigm shift in the male protagonist that was needed for this story to land.
2. The writing of Krish
Writing the beast as it is — unapologetic, clear. This character doesn't need an explanation — even though it had one. That’s how well it was written and, more importantly, played! Krish carries the story so well, that beyond a point, to the audience, his unpredictability becomes predictable.
When Krish runs for his love, you are both scared and looking forward to it!
3. The Crowds are back!
There is something about Bollywood and love stories. Bollywood just owns this genre boldly! On a Monday evening, the occupancy rate was over 80%. So much so, in the middle of all the conversations happening about the sinking box office, future of mainstream cinema, fading star culture — we don’t know what’s the ultimate writing on any of these fronts — but we do know that something in Saiyaara is about to work, and work wonders.