Aashiqui 3: Mohit Suri opens up on being replaced by Anurag Basu; says, 'I don't blame them'

Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara has been the biggest surprise from Bollywood in 2025. The filmmaker known for his passionate love stories made stars out of Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda overnight. Fans had been demanding a sequel of Aashiqui 2 for a long time. Now, Anurag Basu is directing what is being termed as Aashiqui 3. However, they are yet to announce the formal title of the movie. Mohit Suri told podcaster and journalist Shubhankar Mishra that he was writing Aashiqui 3 and wanted to direct it. However, T-Series decided to move ahead with Anurag Basu as they did not give time to Suri to fine tune his script.

The filmmaker said that the failure of Ek Villain Returns and Malang might have prompted them to take such a step. He also advised people to rely on themselves when the chips are down. He said, “Never listen to anybody when you’re low, because they’ll push you further down.”

Mohit Suri on how movie-making is a business at the end of the day

He confirmed that the production house decided to go ahead with Aashiqui3 without him. Mohit Suri said he was not disappointed or angry. In the movie business, an actor/director is only as good as his last films. He said, “But, 100% (people judge you on the basis of hits and flops). And this was my own family that were the ones not willing to wait. And I don’t blame them, because it’s a business. But, more than anything else, I wasn’t trying to prove them wrong, I was trying to prove myself wrong.”

But, 100% (people judge you on the basis of hits and flops). And this was my own family that were the ones not willing to wait. And I don’t blame them, because it’s a business.

- Mohit Suri to Shubhankar Mishra

It seems Mohit Suri would have taken some more time to write Aashiqui 3 but they could not wait any longer. He said he would not announce the film until and unless his script was completely ready. He said in the interview that they chose Anurag Basu whom Suri admires a lot.

The filmmaker reminisced over success of Aashiqui 2

He said that he cannot make a sequel of Aashiqui 2 without Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur. Mohit Suri said it got an opening of Rs three crore, which wasn’t a huge sum even in 2013. He continued further, “But it became a cult film over time. Now, people want to use that brand name and make another film. But it’s more of a project now than a film, and I don’t know if I fit into this.” Awarapan 2 is also being directed by Nitin Kakkar.