Published on: Aug 08, 2025 01:14 pm IST
Shanoo Sharma reveals Ahaan Panday’s struggle as he waited for 9 long years before getting his debut film Saiyaara
Following in the footsteps of his uncle Chunky Panday and cousin sister Ananya Panday, Ahaan Panday made his silver screen debut this year with Saiyaara. The Mohit Suri film broke records at the box office, making Ahaan and his co-star Aneet Padda overnight stars. While the fame came overnight, the struggle behind landing his first film spread across 9 long years for Ahaan. YRF’s casting director Shanoo Sharma has now revealed how Ahaan was trained for 3 years for his debut, but his waiting period stretched much longer due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a recent chat with The Hollywood Reporter India, Shanoo Sharma shared how Ahaan Panday was trained alongside Bollywood actor Sharvari, who made her film debut with YRF’s Bunty Aur Babli 2 in 2021. Shanoo remembered, “The first three years went into training. We trained, and we trained, we got, Sharvari was also on that bandwagon. So we got Sharvari and him to do improvisation and scenes, and scenes, and scenes. So I was training them personally. After that hit COVID. So when he had his whole waiting period, he joined The Railway Men as an AD.”
When asked if Ahaan was ever scared, Shanoo explained, “He saw the world moving ahead, he saw everybody from his generation moving ahead. I don’t know, I think it must have irked him within, and you could see that if you really knew him well enough, but I don’t think it ever broke his spirit. The one thing Ahaan has is spirit. He has spirit of another level. So I don’t think it broke that.”
Clearly, the wait was worth it because today Ahaan is a national heartthrob thanks to his intense, heart-touching performance in Saiyaara, which has left a lasting impact on audiences across the nation. Fans are now eagerly waiting for him to announce his next.
