Mar 19, 2026 11:23am IST
Mohit Suri On Aditya Chopra’s Diktat On ‘Saiyaara’: Don’t Cut The Film Shorter Than 2 Hours 45 Minutes (EXCLUSIVE)
Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara is the biggest hit of his career. Suri says working with Aditya Chopra, was one of the most creatively liberating phases of his career.
Reflecting on the partnership, Suri says what stood out most was the complete freedom he was given as a director. “It’s actually the most someone has ever really given me,” he says. “What he gave me was independence. What he gave me was not controlling, not breathing down my neck. He told me, work your way, find yourself.”
Suri recalls how Chopra encouraged him to break away from the studio’s conventional processes, especially when it came to music. “They normally make music inside their own studio. “They normally make music inside their own studio. He said, 'Don’t.' I like being in every musician’s own space. He told me, 'Do it your way. You want your music, do it your way,'” Suri shares. “They’ve never had multiple music directors in one film, but he said you can. And he was very clear with the producer, Akshaye (Widhani) that if you want Mohit Suri’s music, you have to let him work the way he does.”
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The filmmaker also revealed how Chopra’s trust extended into the editing process. Despite looming release timelines and the pressure of launching newcomers, Chopra chose patience over interference. “He hadn’t seen any of the footage while we were working. He gave me all my space. But of course, with a new cast and a new producer, there was concern about what the film had turned out to be. So the idea was to watch a loose cut first and then decide the release strategy.”
When Chopra finally watched the first cut, a 3-hour-10-minute version of the film, his reaction surprised Suri. “He said, ‘I don’t know what you will cut, but I don’t want a film shorter than 2 hours 45 minutes because you will kill the feeling. This film is going to do 100 crores.’”
At the time, Suri admits he found that prediction hard to believe. “For this kind of film, 100 crores was a big number. I didn’t believe it. In fact, I was arguing with him. I told him, I’ve done more newcomer films than you, this can’t be more than two-and-a-half hours.”
What makes the experience even more unique, Suri says, is how the dynamic between director and producer was flipped. “Usually, it’s the producer asking you to cut the film shorter and the director resisting. Here, I was the one arguing to trim it down. Any other producer would have probably pushed for a tighter runtime.”
Chopra’s guidance, however, went beyond just runtime. “He told me, edit the film, then do the full background score, watch it on the big screen; and only then, make your final cuts. Because then you’re cutting for the theatre, not for television.”
For Suri, this level of trust and creative space is rare. “No one has ever given me that kind of latitude,” he says. “What he gave me was a big filmmaker’s heart. I genuinely believe big budgets are not what we need. We need producers with big hearts. There’s a difference.”
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