Ahaan Panday is ‘full chapri' says Saiyaara director Mohit Suri, reveals he couldn't explore his TikToker side because of film's script
Mohit Suri recalls a funny incident from Saiyaara shoot
Talking to Komal Nahta, Mohit Suri revealed that Ahaan Panday has a whole different side. He emphasized that the way Panday dances, he is a full-on Gaiety Galaxy boy and dances for the front benchers. 'Aapne woh videos dekhe nahi hai jo usne pull down kar diye. TikToker hai yeh ladka. Full chapri hai. He's a full, out-there, galleried, Gaiety Galaxy boy jo Bandra mein hai.' (You haven't seen the videos he deleted—this guy is a total TikToker! He's a loud, energetic, over-the-top Gaiety Galaxy boy from Bandra)."
The filmmaker recounted an incident from the 30th day of shooting, with half the film completed. Ahaan reportedly asked his creative producer about his audition performance, humorously noting that despite a "big performance," he was simply told he was "the right one."
Saiyaara's box office collection
Reportedly, Saiyaara is performing well in the United Kingdom and the Middle East. In the UK, the film is breaking all records, posting the highest weekday grosses in the second week ever for an Indian film. The second week total in the UK stands at GBP 895K over six days and could surpass GBP 1 million. That will be the biggest ever second week in the territory for an Indian film, over GBP 938K of Pathaan. No other film has crossed GBP 800K.
Similarly, in the Middle East, Saiyaara is outpacing weekday grosses of Dangal and Jawan in the UAE, which were possibly the best for Indian films. GCC markets are holding insanely well, with some collecting better than last week. The total gross in the region currently stands at USD 3.75 million, putting Saiyaara on track to become the highest-grossing non-Khan Bollywood film there, surpassing Animal (USD 5.80 million).
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The Wire
28 minutes ago
- The Wire
Is India Going Through a Humour Crisis?
Culture Rahul Bedi Light-hearted joviality in offices is now policed for tone and political correctness, while in schools and colleges, humour amongst peers is more guarded and cautious, lest it be misconstrued. Chandigarh: Once known for its earthy wit, street-smart repartee, irreverence and instinctive ability to laugh at itself, Indian society today seems trapped in a growing humour deficit in its daily life. What was once casual banter till India's mid-adulthood, when humour was taken for granted, is now forensically dissected for imagined slights; witticisms and jokes risk being misconstrued as insults, provocations or veiled political statements, banter triggers offence, and satire is increasingly being labelled as sedition. Once a pressure valve for public frustration in drawing rooms, WhatsApp groups, comedy clubs or editorial cartoons, humour is now a potential trigger for outrage. Telling jokes at chai stalls, in drawing rooms and at addas across urban India, leg-pulling among friends, witty retorts in crowded buses, even irreverent mocking of netas and babus were markers of a society that did not take itself too seriously and was capable, in ample measure, of laughing at itself. Sadly, that's history. Light-hearted joviality in offices is now policed for tone and political correctness, while in schools and colleges, humour amongst peers is more guarded and cautious, lest it be misconstrued. Even in the privacy of homes, it often fails to even register, as elders and youngsters no longer share cultural references or tolerance levels, and the fear of saying the 'wrong thing' outweighs the unadulterated joy of shared spontaneous laughter. 'They (the authorities) have criminalised being funny,' stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra declared in an interview with The Wire in 2020, whilst the late celebrated cartoonist R.K. Laxman earlier declared that his 'Common Man' was silent and no longer amused. He was afraid to laugh in case someone got offended, he declared in the early 2000s. Stand-up comic Vir Das put it a little more starkly, following a severe backlash to his droll 'Two Indias' monologue at the Kennedy Centre in Washington in 2021. He tweeted that Indians were not losing their sense of humour, but that it was being taken from them (by officialdom), one complaint at a time. Other pro-establishment celebrities, however, argued that limits were both necessary and justified. Actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, for instance, has frequently asserted that comedy should not be centred on criticising the country or its culture. That's not humour, she has said, but mockery under the guise of liberalism. Similarly, television anchor Sudhir Chaudhary contends that some comedians today used freedom of expression to promote ideological agendas. 'That's not freedom – it's propaganda through jokes,' he has stated. Meanwhile, the public space for irreverence, rather than being a means to poke fun at power or question state absurdities and corruption, has become a highly risky business, especially if it strays a little beyond the anodyne in a politically polarised environment. Even feeble attempts at lampooning authority or officialdom runs the risk of being greeted with vicious trolling, First Information Reports (FIRs) or incarcerations and in many instances, all three. The shift in humour from droll to dreary has been further eroded by the omnipotent online culture that provokes and rewards anger. In this tectonic shift, social media has replaced spirited street-corner banter with sanitised, filtered jokes, where 'likes' have become trophies of what passes for humour and mirth. Often, a harmless comment, stripped of context, can trigger a storm, robbing it of its intended spontaneity, mischief, and cordiality. The resultant humour remains cautious, sterilised, and often dull, reduced to safe subjects and recycled tropes, much like German jokes, which 19th century American writer and humourist Mark Twain said were no laughing matter. Real satire – one that poked fun at the powerful, questioned societal hypocrisies and norms, or exposed cultural absurdities – was near extinct and irreverence was no longer celebrated or encouraged, particularly in the formal electronic or print media. Alongside, the language of humour itself across urban India had narrowed, where largely Hinglish 'vegetarian' jokes lacked the knock-out punch of robust Punjabi ones from yesteryears, a wicked Malayali comeback or even a sly Tamil pun. A plethora of hilarious Punjabi jokes from countless impromptu gatherings in my youth – with their earthy punch and saucy irreverence – still linger as iconic, endlessly amusing memories, though now retold sotto voce. These gems were joyfully embellished over the years by generations of wickedly witty Punjabis, each adding their own quirky, risqué and deliciously inventive twists, turning simple jokes into sagas of mischief and social insight. Many carried pleasurably imaginative and bizarre plots, often laced with sharp social commentary reflective of their times. They weren't just jokes – they were mini-performances, a joy to recount, and an even greater pleasure to hear and relish. But, unfortunately, what was once shared freely is now whispered, the laughter tempered but not entirely silenced. These days, some of us greybeards diffidently ask – or are asked in return – 'Heard any genuinely funny new ones lately?' The standard answer is largely a sheepish 'No'. But in apologetic defiance, many of us reach defensively for their cell-phones to read out a recycled joke or to forward one via WhatsApp which has become today's ultimate humour crutch. And though fleetingly mirthful, this form of humour remains impersonal – a dehumanised, utilitarian exercise that misses the tone, tenor, body language, and above all, the theatricality accompanying a well-told, and at times, even the not-so-good joke. Doubtlessly, this WhatsApp substitute robs the moment of its pitch, spectacle, warmth and the vital human connection that only live, personal storytelling can evoke. Impersonally e-mailing jokes or circulating them via social media is the easier, more practical and lazier amusement alternative. Even stand-up comedy emerges like a poor substitute, part of the larger subcontracting syndrome in a world where, at a personal level, we're becoming more dour than droll, more reverential than refreshingly irreverent. Regrettably, our drift into this digital sphere has, for audiences, disappointingly put paid to raucous, thigh-slapping guffaw sessions, accompanied by gleeful shrieks and high fives as delightfully bawdy and lesser-rollicking jokes and irreverent tales surged at riotous gatherings years earlier. As an ageing humourist amusingly put it, these extravagant, albeit involuntary reactions of several generations of now aged Indians, erupted like a shaken soda-water bottle or beer can – sudden, loud and delightfully messy. These sessions were not only therapeutic and salutary, but even years later, hugely memorable. But to make matters worse, even unimpeded laughter, from the belly outwards, is now carefully rationed, considered impolite. In our age of curated seriousness, genuine, unfiltered mirth is decidedly frowned upon in polite company, and from being the accepted and desired norm in yesteryears, such riotous jollity is fast becoming the exception. It's also an indisputable fact that, as a people, most Indians tend to take themselves far too seriously – hobbled by an ancient caution, or perhaps superstition, that gratification in any form, especially laughter, is sinful or somehow licentious. Then there's that age-old statutory warning we've all grown up with: laugh too much, and providence will balance it out by making you cry just as hard. This inherent deterrence, combined with our increasingly overwrought, politically correct, uptight and terminally self-absorbed and politicised society, has brought us to a strange inflection point where most people have wilfully taken to gagging the gag. However, alternately, albeit often overlooked, there exists a seamy and unpleasant layer of humour – the scatological, slapstick and lowbrow strain that relies on bodily functions, sexual innuendo and crass exaggeration to appeal to our most basic instincts. This genre, often dismissed as crude, persists in limited quarters as it triggers instant, unfiltered laughter which appeals directly to raw emotion. And yet, in this growing humourless wasteland, all is not lost. Shades of the Indian sense of humour still endure in pockets: in memes, in regional comedies, in political cartoons that survive despite the risk, and most refreshingly, in rural India. In small towns, roadside dhabas, village squares, and paan -stained tea stalls, wit still remains earthy and spontaneous. Jokes here aren't merely told – they're enacted, lived and passed on like erstwhile oral tradition. Relatively free, for now, from the anxieties of self-censorship and political pressure, rural humour remains uncurated, unselfconscious and to some extent, relatively intrepid. But the everyday casualness with which humour was once exchanged – without fear or consequence – has faded, possibly permanently. Reclaiming that ease will not only necessitate rebuilding societal tolerance for disagreement, but also shedding hypocrisy and acknowledging our foibles and collective public infirmities. This remains essential; for when people fear to laugh in public or edit their witticisms before they speak, that society is not just cheerless, but has lost its soul. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
NDTV
28 minutes ago
- NDTV
The Making Of Khalnayak: How A Hollywood Pitch, A Breakup, And A Bomb Blast Shaped Bollywood's Most Controversial Film
In the summer of 1993, Subhash Ghai's Khalnayak stormed Indian screens like few had before it. What began as a signature Ghai masala entertainer quickly spiraled into a whirlwind of blurred lines: between hero and villain, glamour and scandal, fiction and reality. And everything collided in a story where the real drama was as gripping as the reel. At the centre was Sanjay Dutt, whose real-life Bombay blasts case nearly halted the film's release. Add a tabloid-fodder breakup with Madhuri Dixit, a battle over the ' Khalnayak Vs Khalnayika ' title, and the firestorm of controversy and moral panic ignited by the song Choli Ke Peeche kya hai. Khalnayak seemed doomed. But it survived and soared into legend, fueled by controversy and songs that still echo in nightclubs decades later. By the early '90s, the media had begun calling Subhash Ghai the new "Showman" of Bollywood, a title once reserved for Raj Kapoor. Riding high on a string of back-to-back blockbusters like K arma, Ram Lakhan, and Saudagar, which earned him the Best Director Filmfare Award, Ghai was at the peak of his game. He next announced, Devaa, a high-profile project with the reigning superstar Amitabh Bachchan. But creative differences between the two halted the project before it could take off. Some say Ghai didn't let go of the idea entirely and began shaping what would eventually become Khalnayak. But do you know that Khalnayak was initially planned as a Hollywood film? While vacationing in the U.S., Subhash Ghai stayed with tennis star-turned-Hollywood producer Ashok Amritraj. Amritraj urged Ghai to take a leap, suggesting he try his hand at a smaller Hollywood film to test the waters beyond Bollywood. Ghai pitched him the idea on the spot. Amritraj liked it. They registered the story with the Writers Guild. The title of the story was Be Negative. They sent it off to agents representing two top Hollywood stars. Ghai has recalled in his interviews that Eddie Murphy was approached for the role that would later go to Sanjay Dutt, while screen legend Omar Sharif was offered the part eventually played by Jackie Shroff. Negotiations got underway as Ghai began collaborating with a team of Hollywood writers on the screenplay, but soon realised his sensibilities rooted in Bollywood didn't fit their culture. It became clear to the 'showman' that he was better off making films on his own turf where he had full creative control over writing, editing, music, and performances. Back in Mumbai, he initially toyed with making a small-budget 'serious film' with Nana Patekar and Jackie Shroff. The lead character in this version was a dholakwala freshly released from Pune's Yervada Jail, heading to Mumbai for a life of crime. After completing the first draft, Ghai called Nana Patekar, who liked the story and agreed to play Khalnaayak. Film media at the time reported that people close to Ghai warned him against making a small-budget art film. They said a showman of his stature should deliver a big commercial spectacle with a star-studded cast. Nana Patekar was dropped from the film and expressed his displeasure in interviews. And then Sanjay Dutt, who was having a resurgence of sorts after his shaky start was signed to play Khalnaayak while Ghai regular Jackie Shroff took on the role of the police officer. Ghai had worked with Dutt a decade earlier in Vidhaata, but it was the success of Sadak and Saajan that propelled Sanjay into Bollywood's top tier. By the end of 1991, Sanjay Dutt, for the first time in his career, was the most sought-after star in Hindi cinema. Showtime magazine announced it in the cover story: 'Sanjay Dutt: The New Superstar'. Off-screen, Sanjay Dutt dominated headlines with his high-profile romance with Saajan co-star and Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit. The doomed romance Sanjay Dutt's life unfolded like a saga of highs and lows few could imagine. Born to screen legends Sunil Dutt and Nargis, his childhood was marked by hardship, followed by his mother's long battle with cancer and his own long struggle with addiction. By the late 1980s, as his career finally gained momentum, tragedy struck again. His wife, Richa Sharma, was diagnosed with cancer. After a series of surgeries, Richa went into remission. But during this fragile period, Sanjay and Richa's marriage was also unravelling. Enter Madhuri Dixit. Sanjay's nineties resurgence began with Thanedaar (1990), where Madhuri starred as his leading lady. The film is best remembered for the chartbuster "Tamma Tamma," featuring Dutt, a non-dancer, trying to keep pace with the dancing diva. Apart from Thanedaar, Sanjay had previously worked with Madhuri Dixit in Khatron Ke Khiladi and Kanoon Apna Apna. Both had signed more films together, such as Sahibaan and Mahaanta, and were spending a fair bit of time together. Soon rumours of a romance between them started doing the rounds in Mumbai. When Saajan became a blockbuster, their chemistry was widely credited for its success. This was when Sanjay's love life is said to have taken a very interesting, scandalous turn. Madhuri Dixit was signed as his leading lady in Khalnayak. While the stories about his association with Madhuri may not have been good for his already floundering marriage, their on-screen partnership would give Sanjay the best phase of his career. "Sanjay bolta tha, yeh picture bohot door tak jaayegi par dekhta tha Madhuri ki taraf" - Subhash Ghai In 2023, during a special screening celebrating 30 years of Khalnayak, Subhash Ghai turned towards Sanjay Dutt and playfully teased him, "Yeh bolta tha, yeh picture bohot door tak jaayegi par dekhta tha Madhuri ki taraf." Taken aback, Dutt laughed quietly, choosing silence over a reply. More than Saajan's success or Sanjay's rising stardom, it was the Sanjay-Madhuri story that dominated film magazine pages. Despite their denials, tabloids brimmed with innuendo and speculation. The media even hinted that Sanjay planned to divorce Richa. By 1992, while shooting Khalnayak, the film press openly labelled them a couple. Their fondness was clear, and Madhuri, at least, made no effort to hide it. She once told an interviewer, 'My favourite partner is Sanjay Dutt, he's a real joker . . . and his stories make me laugh all the time, but he is also a gentleman.' To another interviewer, she said, 'Sanju is a fantastic person. He has a loving heart and, in contrast to the widely held view, a good sense of humor. He is the only guy who makes me laugh all the time. He does not play games. He is open and uncomplicated.' But Madhuri didn't say much more than this to the press. Insiders believed their relationship was serious, with whispers of a wedding. Filmfare did a cover story titled 'Madhuri to Marry?', which hinted that Madhuri was planning to get married in 1994 - it didn't say to whom - and that she would leave the film business after her wedding. In the same story, it was reported that Sanjay and Madhuri had grown close during the Mysore schedule of Sahibaan (1993) and that 'Sanjay played Prince charming to the hilt'. Midway through the schedule, the location was shifted to the picturesque hills in Manali. According to Sahibaan's director, Ramesh Talwar, 'He [Sanjay] was always following Madhuri around and whispering "I love you", totally ignoring the fact that there were others around.' Though Richa seemed to want to work things out, Sanjay Dutt filed for divorce in early 1993. From the moment Khalnayak was announced, it was the hottest buzz in film circles. Sanjay had crossed the one crore signing-amount mark with Khalnayak. But as shooting progressed, no one could foresee the monstrous storm that was about to hit the film and Sanjay Dutt. When The Storm Hit Friday, on 12 March 1993, as Sanjay Dutt shot the film Jai Vikraanta in Jaipur, Mumbai was shattered by a series of deadly blasts. 257 people lost their lives, and 713 were injured. After the Jaipur schedule, Sanjay left for Mauritius on 2 April 1993 to shoot the climax of Sanjay Gupta's Aatish. Within weeks, his name surfaced in the Mumbai blasts investigation, linking him to the conspiracy and sparking a national media frenzy. When he landed in Mumbai on 19 April, police were waiting. The arrest marked the darkest chapter of his life-and one of Bollywood's biggest scandals. The media was relentless, and the Dutt's felt cornered, abandoned by many, despite a few powerful allies in the film industry rallying behind them. But there was one special person from whom Sanjay Dutt and his family were expecting support. Sanjay was waiting for his 'close friend' Madhuri Dixit to call or come over to meet him, but the wait for Madhuri was futile. A June 1993 cover story in Stardust said what Sanjay was dreading: 'Madhuri Dumps Sanjay!' It went on to narrate how Madhuri apparently decided almost overnight after Sanjay was arrested that she wasn't going to have anything to do with him any more. But things did not end at this. A few days later, Madhuri aired her version of the truth on the alleged relationship in the press. Senior journalist and author Bharathi S. Pradhan, who interviewed Madhuri at the time, recounted the incident in 2011. "Madhuri nipped the entire Dutt episode by giving me an interview . . . She made it extremely clear on record that she was not involved with him. No, she replied, she was not in love with him. No, she said, there was no question of marrying him; she had nothing to do with him." Recalling the important interview, Bharathi said, 'It was only a few weeks later, after the cover story was published, that I realised I'd been the messenger. She had unequivocally broken off with Sanju with that one well-timed interview. Nobody blamed the straightforward Madhuri for putting an end to the Dutt chapter . . . A Dutt-Dixit alliance would've been disastrous, and she was too sensible not to see it.' Headlines, Controversies, And The Khalnayak Release Khalnayak had also grabbed headlines for its music. Firstly, an HMV loyalist, Subhash Ghai, moved to Tips, which was paying him Rs 1 crore for the music rights over HMV's Rs 40 lakh. It was a big deal, but he lived up to the expectations raised with Choli Ke Peechey, becoming a mammoth chartbuster. The music label sold one crore cassettes in the first release itself. But the song sparked outrage after a Delhi lawyer filed a case, calling it obscene, harmful to children and 'degrading Indian culture.' Politicians and women's groups soon joined in, and the controversy escalated just as the film neared release. The censor board was adamant that the song, with its 'obscene' lyrics, should be deleted from the film. But Subhash Ghai fought back. The song stayed and went on to become a monster hit. It wasn't only Sanjay's infamy that prompted people to line up outside movie halls to watch the film. The song Choli ke peeche played an important part too. When Khalnayak was in the making, filmmaker Saawan Kumar launched Khal-Naaikaa, a separate film with a similar sounding title starring Anu Agarwal, Jeetendra and Jaya Prada. The press buzzed with attacks and accusations from both sides. Both films were locked in a race to the finish, and both hit theatres on the same day. As Khalnayak neared release, it took on a sharply political edge. Days before its premiere, BJP's student wing, ABVP, stormed Mumbai's Maratha Mandir, halting a screening of Sanjay Dutt's Kshatriya. Other theatres soon pulled his films under pressure. Protesters burned Sanjay Dutt's effigies and defaced hoardings with garlands of slippers. On May 5, 1993, Dutt was granted interim bail and rushed to finish dubbing for his pending films. The posters of Khalnayak didn't shy away from using Sanjay's legal troubles to push the project. They featured a handcuffed Sanjay declaring, 'Haan, main hoon khalnayak. [Yes, I'm a villain.]' Many in the film industry thought that Ghai was opportunistically milking the tragedy to promote his film. Ghai brushed aside this criticism, saying the promotions were in fact planned much in advance. With the media portraying Sanjay as Bollywood's arch villain, Khalnayak finally hit theaters on August 6, 1993. Loud and unapologetically Ghai, Khalnayak was packed with hit songs, melodrama, and over-the-top characters. It may not have aged well, but in 1993, it was truly an event. Glossy posters declared it "An Amazing Portrait of a Sensitive Villain." When it opened on August 6, lines stretched around theatres. The verdict was clear: Bollywood's original bad boy had become an even bigger star. Khalnayak ended the year as the second-highest-grossing film of 1993, just behind David Dhawan's Aankhen, and one of the decade's biggest box office hits. Thirty-two years on, filmmakers still vie for the rights to remake Khalnayak. Subhash Ghai himself continues to tease the possibility of a Khalnayak 2. In these three decades, Sanjay and Madhuri have crossed paths many times at Bollywood functions and even shared the screen again in Kalank (2019). In 2017, Sanjay was a guest speaker for a session at Goafest. During the round of audience questions after the interview, someone asked Sanjay Dutt, 'Given a chance today, which actress would you like to marry?' Sanjay, in all seriousness, replied, 'I would like to marry Madhuri Dixit.'
Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Saiyaara Box Office Collection Day 15: Ahaan Panday-Aneet Padda's blockbuster braves competition, nears Rs 450 crore worldwide
Saiyaara Box Office Collection Day 15: No one expected two newcomers to make such a big impact on the box office, but that's exactly what Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda have done with Saiyaara. The film has been on a historic two-week run, raking in unprecedented numbers while overtaking massively successful blockbuster on the all-time leaderboard. However, what goes up must come down, and it seems that the Saiyaara Express is finally running out of steam. According to early estimates by industry tracker Sacnilk, the film earned Rs 4.25 crore on day 15 of its theatrical run, taking its India net collection to Rs 284.75 crore. The worldwide collection of the film has crossed the Rs 440 crore mark, and even though it just recorded its lowest single-day earnings yet, the film was a success the day it came out. During the past 15 days, the Mohit Suri directorial has overtaken the likes of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Kabir Singh (Rs 278 cr), the Salman Khan-starrer Tiger 3 (Rs 276 cr), the Aamir Khan-Katrina Kaif-starrer Dhoom 3 (Rs 271 cr), and the Ranbir Kapoor-Alia Bhatt-starrer Brahmastra Part One (Rs 241 cr), just to name a few. Now the film is hot on the heels of the Prabhas-Deepika Padukone-starrer Kalki AD 2898 AD (Rs 293 cr) and Salman Khan's Sultan (Rs 300 cr). ALSO READ: Triptii Dimri and Siddhant Chaturvedi's Dhadak 2 seethes with the rage of filmmaker Shazia Iqbal The occupancy rates of Saiyaara averaged out at 19.42%, with the morning and afternoon shows achieving 11.89% and 19.15%. The evening and night shows did slightly better with 20.24% and 26.40%. While the numbers are much lower than what Saiyaara had been averaging previously, it will pass the Rs 300 crore mark this weekend. The collection is bound to go down as the days pass, but the film's performance has been more than just commendable. The last major debut of Bollywood was probably that of Ahaan's cousin, Ananya Panday, in Student of the Year 2, which earned Rs 70 crore net in India, a number that Saiyaara crossed in just three days. Shanaya Kapoor's recent debut alongside Vikrant Massey in Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan (Rs 1.77 cr) found itself drowning under the Saiyaara wave. Ajay Devgn had to delay the release of Son of Sardaar 2, just to avoid clashing with Saiyaara. Be it the new faces, the title track, or the several tactics applied by Suri and YRF, Saiyaara worked, and everyone involved with the project is now enjoying the fruits of their labour.
