Ahaan Panday is off to a great start in his acting career, with ‘Saiyaara’ performing well at the box office. The Bollywood debutant managed to score an impressive Rs 20 crore box office debut. While all eyes are turned to the box office to see how well the film performs in its opening weekend, an interesting fact about the young actor has come to light. Did you know that Ahaan was originally set to debut in a big-budget superhero movie alongside Ajay Devgn?
Ahaan’s journey to stardom
Ahaan, who plays an aspiring rockstar named Krish Kapoor in Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara, started his career as an Assistant Director on YRF’s Netflix series The Railway Men. But even before that, he was picked to star in a superhero film by Yash Raj Films.
Superhero calling
According to Bollywood Hungama, the film was planned as a grand multi-part superhero saga with Ahaan in the lead role and Ajay Devgn playing the villain. Manushi Chhillar was also part of the cast. A source had shared this news back in 2020, “It’s true that Ahaan Panday and Ajay Devgn will be seen together. Ajay plays the antagonist in this film, which promises to be a visually grand and exciting affair. It’ll be a part of a superhero series and every part will have a new villain.”
COVID-19 Delays
Ajay reportedly stepped away from the project due to scheduling conflicts caused by COVID-19 delays. With the film shelved, Ahaan changed direction and worked as an Assistant Director with Shiv Rawail on ‘The Railway Men’.After ‘The Railway Men’ was released in November 2023, Ahaan shared an emotional post on Instagram, looking back on his time on set. He wrote, “I was working on a show about a group of brave souls… it made me realise that that is the only way we can treat our dreams… sometimes life forces you to think about where you’re going, but that’s exactly when you need to look out of that window and see the beauty in it all.”Now, with ‘Saiyaara’, Ahaan finally steps into the spotlight, with the romantic musical that also features Aneet Padda in a key role.
