"My role was cut-off in 'Saiyaara', I felt bad initially" - Shaan R. Grover aka Mahesh

Not every breakthrough in Bollywood is served on a platter, and actor Shaan Grover knows that better than most. In a candid, no-holds-barred conversation, the antagonist of Mohit Suri’s emotionally twisted love saga Saiyaara talks about getting scenes chopped, facing rejections for being "too urban," and surprising everyone with a romantic take on a psychotic role. With a journey that began on Dubsmash and led to chemistry workshops opposite Aneet Padda, Shaan’s story is part madness, part destiny, and entirely cinematic.

Q. Getting a role in any film is a challenge in general. That is the toughest thing, right? And this is more like, I wouldn’t say motivation, but there are so many actors out there. How did it happen?

This actually started back in 2016. I was in my third year of college when I stumbled upon Shanoo Sharma ma’am (YRF Casting Director), who became a mentor of sorts. Kabeer Shaikh, one of my favorite people and now a big casting director, introduced me to her. I had done Dubsmash videos for fun and she saw something in them. She said, there’s something in you, I want to explore it.

She rarely mentors outsiders, but she trained me. I gave a year to her and she always said, one day I’ll do something with you. She kept auditioning me over the years, even for Dus June Ki Raat, but said I was too urban for some parts, even though I could do dialects. That didn’t work out but she never stopped believing in me.

When Saiyaara came along, I gave an audition that was supposed to be maniacal, but I did it in a romantic way. I thought I had messed it up. That same night at 11 PM, she called and said, what have you done, this is outstanding. She said she saw romance in my eyes, which added to the twisted duality of the character.

I gave three rounds of auditions. Mohit Suri Sir and Shanoo Ma’am loved it. I had a great meeting with Mohit sir and he decided on the spot to cast me. Then came the chemistry workshops with Aneet. Funny thing is, both of us started our training under Shanoo ma’am around the same time. We were the same batch of actors. Just with different destinies.

Initially I did get very affected because there was a little bit of chopping.

- Shaan R. Grover on his role in 'Saiyaara' (as told to India Forums)

Q: I keep thinking about this when I talk to actors. What you shoot and what finally gets presented is obviously vastly different. Sometimes, you’ve shot maybe ten scenes and barely five make it to the big screen. It’s ultimately the call of the editor and director. In your case with Saiyaara, that happened too, right? Scenes you shot didn’t make it to the final cut. How much do you get affected by that?

Yeah, initially I did get very affected because there was a little bit of chopping. But now when I see the final output, the way they've actually portrayed and magnified even the smaller screen time that I have, I’m okay with it. As long as it helps me out. But yeah, I can't deny, because I'm an honest guy. When I initially found out during the dubbing and then as the process went by, I was like, in totality people would have seen me in a better light.

But who am I to judge. Like I said, there are so many bigger people who are behind the monitor, working day in and day out. So if they've taken that call seeing the bigger picture in totality, then yeah, I would have to trust my God and trust my destiny.

Shaan Grover’s journey is far from the cookie-cutter origin story. It has failed auditions, labelings like too urban, scenes lost to the edit table, and still, a spotlight that found him anyway. With Saiyaara, he didn’t just play a romantic villain. He reframed the trope.

Did you like his portrayal of Mahesh Iyer in the film? Let us know in the comments below.