Saiyaara casting director Shanoo Sharma opened up on how Aneet Padda bagged the female lead role in this Mohit Suri directorial.
Aneet Padda left everyone mighty impressed with her portrayal of Vaani Batra opposite debutant Ahaan Panday in Mohit Suri’s latest blockbuster film Saiyaara. The rising star anchored the film’s emotional arc with a performance that was both emotionally raw and magnetic.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, casting director Shanoo Sharma spilled the beans about how Aneet got roped in for this romantic musical drama. She revealed that she contacted the actress for the first time when she was 19 for a role in Anupam Kher-starrer Vijay 69.
Shanoo recalled, “I saw her on a video call and was like, ‘She’s stunning. She’s beautiful.’ She was doing her whole college zone at that time. So she was like, ‘Ma’am, I really don’t know if I can skip. I have exams.’ I said, ‘Okay, that’s fine. But whenever you’re done with college, come to me first.'”
She continued, “I said, ‘I want to work with you. I want to do something with you. Just come to me first.’ Now, Nitya Mehra, she had seen her short film, which I hadn’t. I hadn’t seen any of Aneet’s work. Nitya had taken her (for Big Girls Don’t Cry), and I was unaware of this.”
Later, Shanoo met Aneet when the latter came to Mumbai to promote her web series, Big Girls Don’t Cry. Aneet has always expressed her admiration for Alia Bhatt, and you would be surprised to know that her Saiyaara audition also had an Alia connection!
Shanoo shared, “We worked for two to three days, did photoshoots and everything. I gave her a scene, which is the bible scene, Highway. I gave her that scene and called a senior actor, Manish Wadhwa, to do it with her. We shot that, and I was like, ‘I have gold. I have gold in my hand.’ She blew my mind. She won me at hello.”
When Shanoo showed Aneet’s audition clip to Aditya Chopra, the producer ‘loved her talent’ but felt that she looked young for the part. Following this, the casting director made Aneet look a certain age with the help of hair and make-up. Finally, Aditya got convinced about Aneet’s casting in Saiyaara.
Shanoo shared that Aneet’s audition happened before Mohit Suri actually began casting for his directorial. She recalled Aneet’s first photoshoot after Mohit started his process, and said, “When she did her first photoshoot, she didn’t really a good job. She was a little frozen.”
However, Aneet soon stood out amongst the other girls who were also auditioning for the same role, and finally Mohit agreed to have her on board for the film.
Box office wise, Saiyaara has already crossed Rs 500-Crore mark worldwide.
