Review of Saiyaara (Wanderer)
Without giving away the storyline
Three sentence summary: One man band musician Krish Kapoor meets lyricist Vaani Batra. Fireworks start from the word get go. The love story collides in time and ego of both characters. Before they know it, the story becomes bigger than themselves.
The main character *is* a singer. His love interest *is* a songwriter. It is therefore natural to have seven complete songs woven into the story. Here is the title song Saiyaara meaning the Wanderer.
I was drawn in by the opening sequence: A group of people in a marriage registration place. I have never seen a *Hindi* movie where a character is saying out loud marriage vows in *Bengali.*
"Two imperfect hearts. One honest love story." Says the production company.
When Krish asks Vaani to write a song on the spot in a soundproof studio, she is paralyzed. She explains the difference between the creation of a song versus recording of a song. It is an intense moment early in the movie.
https://youtube.com/shorts/hmxcdafAVNM
Without giving away the storyline, the director manages to create such intense emotional moments over and over again.
https://youtube.com/shorts/-oaLoQFVf3k
The movie stars Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda.
The chemistry between them works very well.
There is no villain, there is no swashbuckling hero or a coy heroine. It does not go on a world safari of exotic locations. It stays in India. It reflects the life of two young damaged souls. In a way, it goes back to the Hindi movie romantic roots of the 1950s but the songwriter singer is *not* the hero with the heroine just a flower decoration. It is updated with deleted Instagram accounts!
Executive critique: It *is* schmaltzy? Yes. But, then, you should not expect anything else for a mass appeal movie.
Executive summary: Well made movie, recommended. Two young lead actors Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda are good in their roles.
The movie was produced under the Yash Raj Films banner.
Prediction: Hit.