Saiyaara () is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film directed by Mohit Suri. Produced by Yash Raj Films, it is loosely based on the 2004 South Korean film A Moment to Remember. Saiyaara stars debutants Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda in the lead roles of a singer-songwriter duo who fall in love. Originally planned as a spiritual sequel to Suri's Aashiqui 2, creative differences led to the project being reworked into a standalone film under Yash Raj Films.
Saiyaara was released theatrically on 18 July 2025 to positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for Panday and Padda's performances, story, and its soundtrack. A major commercial success, the film grossed over worldwide, emerging as the third highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025 and the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of the year.
Plot Vaani, a writer, is waiting to marry her college boyfriend Mahesh at the courthouse, but he calls to tell her that he is leaving for San Francisco for a job promotion, and is now dating to marry the heiress of his company and doesn't intend to marry her anymore and abandons her. She faints after the news, and then wastes away into depression and is unable to write.
Six months later, she joins Buzzlist, a media company, as an intern and meets Krish Kapoor, an aspiring musician who is stuck in his past and abusive childhood, and is battling anger issues. Krish faces multiple setbacks in his musical career, including disputes with journalists and a row with his band, but KV, his best friend, helps fund the band, although Krish's education is at stake. Krish meets Vaani when she accidentally leaves behind her book in which she writes poetry, and he returns it to her while visiting Buzzlist and assaults a journalist for criticising and maligning his image, and tells her that he sees the beauty and potential in her writings.
Although initially wary of Krish's moody nature, Vaani agrees to collaborate with him on a song for hip-hop singer Prince. Krish helps her to overcome her writing block and finds torn pages of her notebook at the cricket playground where he spends his time alone, and she begins to write again with his encouragement. Krish and Vaani slowly become close, and Vaani's world settles into a routine alongside Krish.
However, after Krish confronts his alcoholic father, Vaani comforts him and convinces him to enter rehabilitation, but Krish is forced to give up the credit for their Prince project to pay for his father's rehabilitation, and he pushes Vaani away, believing she deserves better. They meet again at Prince's concert, where they reveal that they like each other, and kiss. They begin dating, and Krish reconciles with his band.
When Krish drops Vaani at her place, her parents spot him and worry that he may hurt Vaani like Mahesh did, and their stress overwhelms Vaani and she faints. At the hospital, Vaani's parents confront Krish regarding his intentions, and they reluctantly agree to let him continue seeing Vaani after Krish promises that he won't hurt her. However, they learn that Vaani has early-onset Alzheimer's disease, and Krish has to quit his job to care for her, and on the advice of doctors, they move to a guesthouse in Alibag to make new memories and enjoy their time together.
At Krish's first major concert, Mahesh tries to assault Vaani, but Krish tries to save her, and she, in confusion, stabs his right arm and has a severe breakdown after not remembering who he is. At the guesthouse, Krish's father reconciles with him, and in one quiet moment, Krish plays a piano tune for Vaani, and she tells him that his melody is unforgettable enough to bring a lost lover back, and that she will pen the words for his tune. Krish, grateful, soon realises that she is losing grip on her reality and thinks he is Mahesh, and it breaks his heart. Krish then leaves to inform his crew that he is quitting the band to care for Vaani full time, but when he returns, Vaani has disappeared. Krish discovers her diary with the words to the song she named "Saiyaara" and records it in her memory before releasing it to the world, where it goes viral, catapulting him to fame and making him reconcile with his band. He continues to tour the country with Vaani's writings, hoping to find her since she said that she may forget him, but this melody has the power to make her remember him again.
A year later, KV finds a fan video of Vaani listening to one of Krish's songs that went viral, and Krish tracks her down to a women's shelter in Manali. A letter she has written for him reveals that she has fled to Manali to avoid hindering his musical career after recalling the violent incident at the concert and she didn't want to be the reason he leaves his career behind and gets hurt every time she may forget him, but has continued to follow him and his work. Although she doesn't recognize Krish, he gently reminds her of their time together at the cricket playground back home. Vaani's memories of their time together slowly return, and they both tearfully declare their love for each other. The film ends with Krish performing at Wembley Stadium with Vaani by his side. They marry, and Vaani continues to write with Krish by her side.
Cast
Production
The film was officially announced by Yash Raj Films with Mohit Suri signed on as the director, and is a loose adaptation of the 2004 South Korean film A Moment to Remember. Sankalp Sadanah wrote the screenplay for the film, with the dialogues penned by Rohan Shankar. The technical crew consisted of cinematographer Vikas Sivaraman and editors Rohit Makwana and Devendra Murdeshwar. Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda were cast in the lead roles, while for the female lead Suri expressed his desire to cast an actress who has not undergone any cosmetic treatments. The principal photography commenced in September 2024 and concluded in March 2025, with the film being shot in Mumbai, Goa, Manali, and Alibag.According to Forbes India, the film was made on a budget of .
In an interview, Suri revealed that the project was initially conceived as a potential third entry in the Aashiqui series, but it did not happen with their producers. Inspired by the Netflix documentary series The Romantics, he started working on the idea, titled Saiyaara, on his own. Later, Akshaye Widhani, the CEO of Yash Raj Films, signed on to produce and support the film under the YRF banner. Further, in an update on social media, Bollywood Hungama revealed that the end credits scene of Saiyaara was actually shot on a single day, and was a last minute addition that was incorporated less than a month ahead of the film's release.
Soundtrack
The music album consists of 7 songs, composed by Mithoon, Sachet–Parampara, Rishabh Kant (The Rish), Vishal Mishra, Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah, and Arslan Nizami, with lyrics written by Irshad Kamil, Mithoon, Rishabh Kant and Raj Shekhar. The film score was composed by John Stewart Eduri, replacing Suri's regular collaborator Raju Singh. The vocals were provided by Arijit Singh, Jubin Nautiyal, Shreya Ghoshal, Shilpa Rao, Vishal Mishra, Sachet–Parampara, Faheem Abdullah and Hansika Pareek. The soundtrack album was released on 4 July 2025.
Release
Theatrical The film received a U/A 16+ certificate from the CBFC after 10 seconds of intimate visuals were deleted, objectionable words were replaced in four instances, and a static helmet safety disclaimer was added for two-wheeler scenes.The film has a runtime of 156 minutes. Saiyaara was released in the theatres on 18 July 2025.
Home media Netflix acquired the film's digital streaming rights, and it began streaming there from 12 September 2025; the deal marked a significant shift away from YRF's usual streaming partner Amazon Prime Video, with pre-2020 YRF productions later being renewed by the platform as well. Sony Max acquired the satellite rights, having been the home of YRF's filmography since 2000. However, the Star Gold Network later acquired the rights to War and subsequent YRF releases; it then renewed all but a select handful of prior YRF productions for its own catalogue.
Reception
Box office Saiyaara closed its theatrical run with worldwide, with nett in India and $19.73 million overseas. Deadline described the film's box office performance as "unprecedented", and The Indian Express noted that it stood out "at a time when films are struggling to break even, especially the ones starring new faces or debutantes".
The film had a record-breaking opening day, collecting ₹21.25 crore (US$2.6 million) worldwide, marking the highest opening for a Hindi film featuring a debutant male lead. Its opening weekend was strong across India, especially in urban multiplexes, with ₹83 crore (US$10 million) net earned domestically and over ₹119 crore (US$14 million) globally. By the end of its first week, Saiyaara had collected ₹208.5 crore (US$20–21 million) net in India and approximately ₹251.5 crore (US$30 million) worldwide, surpassing Ek Villain to become the highest-grossing film of Mohit Suri's career. On its eighth day, the film maintained momentum, earning ₹17.5 crore (US$2.1 million) net. On 26 July 2025 (its ninth day), it crossed the ₹200 crore (US$24 million) milestone domestically with an additional ₹15.3 crore (US$1.8 million), becoming the second fastest Hindi film of 2025 to enter the ₹200 crore club. The film crossed the ₹300 crore mark on its ninth day.Its total stood at nett in India and gross worldwide by the end of day ten. By this point, Saiyaara had already outperformed the lifetime totals of Raid 2, Sitaare Zameen Par and Housefull 5 becoming the third highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025 as well as the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of the year. This made it the second-biggest opening week for a Hindi release in 2025, behind Chhaava. By its twelfth day of release, the film had earned an estimated ₹270.75 crore (US$32 million) net in India, with a domestic gross of ₹319.5 crore (US$38 million). Its overseas earnings stood at ₹86 crore (US$10.8 million), bringing its total worldwide gross to ₹404 crore (US$48 million), surpassing Kabir Singh as the highest-grossing Indian romantic film of all time. Within thirteen days, it had climbed to become the 22nd highest-grossing Hindi film of all time, surpassing RRR and Dhoom 3.
Critical response
The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with the lead performances and soundtrack garnering the most praise. Bollywood Hungama gave 4 out of 5 stars and described it as "a stirring musical saga" that was elevated by Mohit Suri's deft direction, heartfelt romance, chart-topping music, and the stellar performances of its debutant leads. Rishabh Suri of the Hindustan Times gave 3.5/5 stars and opined that while the story did not break new ground, it struck the right emotional chords, understood its audience, and delivered with sincerity, adding that "sometimes, that is more than enough". Vineeta Kumar of India Today gave 3.5/5 stars and found the film entertaining, emotional, and musical: a cinematic piece where the flaws were visible but the heart shone through.