Mohit Suri called Mahesh Bhatt when he got ‘unsure, too dramatic’ making Saiyaara for Yash Raj Films: ‘He said a couple of swear words to me and…’

Mohit Suri worked with his uncle Mahesh Bhatt in his early years as a filmmaker. However, his latest release, the blockbuster romantic drama Saiyaara, is backed by Aditya Chopra's Yash Raj Films.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | August 14, 2025 12:09 IST

Mohit Suri called Mahesh Bhatt for advice while shooting Saiyaara.

Mohit Suri made his directorial debut with the 2005 romantic drama Zeher, which was backed by Vishesh Films, then co-owned by his uncles Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt. He went on to work with them regularly for nine years till his 2014 hit romantic revenge thriller Ek Villain, which was produced by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures.

“I got to work with Mr. (Mahesh) Bhatt after he stopped making movies. He’d retired as a director. He was still making movies as a creative producer. So I could never see him in action on set,” said Suri. Mahesh Bhatt hung up his boots after helming the 1999 action thriller Kartoos. “The best part of Mr. Bhatt is he’d never get into your film or script. It’s like he brings out the best in me or Anurag (Basu) by doing something unusual,” added Suri in an interview with News18.

Mahesh Bhatt also gave a break in films to director Anurag Basu with the 2003 supernatural romantic thriller Saaya. Basu went on to helm the 2004 hit erotic thriller Murder, Tumsa Nahin Dekha: A Love Story (2004), and Gangster: A Love Story (2005) for the Bhatts. Suri quoted an instance from the making of his recent blockbuster romance Saiyaara to demonstrate how Mahesh Bhatt brings out the best in him.

“There’s a scene in Saiyaara where Krish’s father lands up at his workplace with the police, and he gets violent with him and pushes him,” said Suri. Newcomer Ahaan Panday plays Krish Kapoor, a struggling singer in Saiyaara, backed by Aditya Chopra’s Yash Raj Films. “I remember I was staging that scene in the conference room of Yash Raj Studio with the actors, and I got a bit dramatic myself. I came out of the room and suddenly saw the whole staff was looking at me because I was screaming and sh0uting inside. I think I got into the character,” recalled Suri.

When Suri saw the statue of YRF’s founding father, late legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra, in the studio premises, he wondered if he’s going a little too dramatic, given him and YRF come from different backgrounds. While his foundation under Mahesh Bhatt has been raw, YRF is known for its sheen. “7 am the next day, I was going to shoot the scene. I gave a missed call to Mahesh Bhatt. He’s up at 4 am. So he called me back. I said, ‘I’m feeling unsure. They’re very nice people here. I’m getting a little dramatic.’ He has no idea about my script. All I told him was the scene in which the son gets violent with his father because he’s an alcoholic,” added Suri.

“Bhatt sahab just cut me off. He said a couple of swear words to me — that’s him. I didn’t realize my profile picture was of my son’s hand in my hand. And he just said, ‘The way you’re holding your son’s hand in the closeup, the emotion you feel for your son, no matter how you shoot this scene, it’s never going to have a wrong emotion. The father-son bond is too pure for you. How can a person who has a DP like this even ask me this question? Go shoot it the way you want,'” recalled Suri.

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He felt Mahesh Bhatt was right because that’s one of the scenes Aditya Chopra really liked in Saiyaara. “Mahesh Bhatt doesn’t know the script. But he knows my equation with my father. He knows the person I am. No one can take away the truth that’s behind the camera,” said Suri.

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