‘Saiyaara’ movie review: Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda make this bittersweet romance sparkle

After delivering logs of deadwood, Mohit Suri, who loves to paint doomed romance on celluloid, returns to his Aashiqui roots with a fresh coat of mush whose ebbs and flows make one feel volatile and vulnerable in equal measure. An uplifting tale of unalloyed love whose pathos leaves its soot on the young souls, Saiyaaracarries the brooding intensity of a Mahesh Bhatt romance in the body of a maudlin Yash Raj love story.

With mental health as the villain of the piece, the story echoes the times when love is reduced to a lollipop by market forces. In the digital age, Mohit dials back to the pre-rom-com era, when heartache travelled through the screen on the wings of melodies, sacrifice was considered a virtue, and selfless love was celebrated.

Led by Irshad Kamil’s Saiyaara mera badla nahin hai, Mausam thoda badla hua hai (My love, you are the same, only the time has turned its back on us), the tripping soundtrack, put together by five composers, grows on your senses.

At the core, Mohit follows his template where Krish, a hot-headed emerging singer-composer, finds a calming influence in Vaani, a journalist who has a way with words but no desire for social media likes. As she gives his tunes a meaning, memories get made and magic happens. But if the memory of the beloved fades, can we continue making new memories with the same partner? Mohit poses this question to the Instagram generation.

As Krish and Vaani, the driving force is the young pair of Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda. After a long time, one has found two newcomers who portray the young generation not as giggly, curvy, angry cardboard cutouts, but as rooted, rational, responsible people in flesh and blood.

While debutant Ahaan has a mercurial screen presence and combines the conviction of an actor with the charm of a star, Aneet shows shades of a dynamic performer who can make you laugh and cry. Not just a pretty, vulnerable face, she displays substantial dramatic depth in a complex role.

As Vaani, she is the voice of the film, the conscience keeper of the tumultuous love story between a budding musician facing daddy issues and a songwriter damaged by a toxic relationship. As the two heal each other, we get on a roller coaster ride interspersed with gloom and glory. The proverbial spark that gives a kick to a love story is palpable between the two and keeps the narrative afloat even when cliches raise their head and digital designs obstruct the organic flow.

Saiyaara is currently running in theatres