00:00What's happening in the theatres?
00:02People are dancing shirtless, rolling on the floor, sobbing, even showing up with ivy drips.
00:08The craze for Sayara starring Ahan Pandey and Aneet has gone out of fans, but is this
00:12pure emotions or PR?
00:14So here's the thing.
00:16The man behind the film, director Mohit Suri, is known for not using traditional promotional
00:20methods.
00:21In fact, Sayara did the same, no press tours, no talk shows and that was very intentional
00:26because Suri has pulled off this playbook before.
00:28Back in 2013, when he made Aashiki 2, no one really knew who Aditya Roy Kapoor or Shraddha
00:33Kapoor were.
00:34While shooting Mohit says, people recognised him on the streets of Goa, but not his lead
00:38actors.
00:39Then on the day the film released, he remembers catching a flight from Chandigarh.
00:43By the time they landed, Shraddha and Aditya were being mobbed, not for their looks, not
00:47for PR stunts, but because audiences had seen them on screen and felt something real.
00:52And that's exactly what Mohit Suri and producers Aditya Chopra and Akshay Vidhani may be trying
00:56to do again with Sayara.
00:58And maybe it is working.
01:00But this isn't just about one smart marketing move.
01:02This is part of something much bigger.
01:05Indian cinema has always had a different kind of fandom.
01:08From Rajinikanth to Shahrukh Khan, people have poured milk on posters, lit firecrackers
01:12in theatres, taken leaves from work just to catch first day first show.
01:16Psychologists call this parasocial bonding.
01:18When fans form deep emotional connections with stars they've never met.
01:22Now add powerful music, nostalgia, love, longing and you've got the ashik effect all over again.
01:27So is the Sayara craze real?
01:29Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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