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Is 'Aashiqui 3' being rescripted after Saiyaara's success?
With Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara rocking the box office, all eyes turn to Anurag Basu’s Kartik Aaryan-starrer. But the director says his film is on its own path
- PUBLISHED: Tue 29 Jul 2025, 1:05 PM
After Mohit Suri’s emotionally charged musical drama Saiyaara became a runaway hit, there's concern that Anurag Basu’s next, a musical romance starring Kartik Aaryan and Sreeleela, follows a similar storyline.
The upcoming film has long been touted as the third installment in the Aashiqui franchise. The comparisons were perhaps inevitable: like Saiyaara and its spiritual predecessor Aashiqui 2 (also directed by Suri), Basu’s film features a male lead who’s a rockstar, and the narrative focuses on his personal and emotional journey.
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But Anurag Basu isn’t having any of the “copycat” talk.
In an interview with Mid-day, the Barfi! and Metro… In Dino director dismissed all claims that his film is being rewritten to avoid overlaps with Saiyaara, calling the similarities "superficial at best." “Mohit and I are very close. I’m happy for his film’s success. The only similarity in our films is that the male lead is a rockstar, and the story is about his journey,” Basu said.
He went on to clarify that he had been aware of Saiyaara’s storyline all along, having heard it directly from Suri himself. “In my film, the girl doesn’t have dementia or any [other condition]. We are not rewriting or re-shooting,” he added. “I knew beforehand that the girl had Alzheimer’s disease in Saiyaara. So, why would I write the same [plot point] in mine?”
Interestingly, the story of Saiyaara was originally pitched by Mohit Suri to be developed as Aashiqui 3. However, when that plan fell through, Suri moved ahead with the script independently, casting newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda in a deeply emotional love story that struck a chord with audiences.
Meanwhile, the producers behind Aashiqui 2 — Bhushan Kumar (T-Series) and Mukesh Bhatt (Vishesh Films) — joined forces to revive the franchise with a new director and lead actor. That’s where Basu and Kartik Aaryan entered the picture.
But the film hit a legal snag. After Bhushan Kumar and Mukesh Bhatt parted ways, a dispute erupted over the usage rights of the Aashiqui brand.
