Saiyaara actor Varun Badola has taken a dig at the promotional campaign of the Mohit Suri-directed romance drama, calling the social media frenzy — fans fainting mid-scene, breaking into dance in theatres, and tearing off their clothes — “a little overboard”.

Following the July 18 release of the musical romance drama starring Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, videos of young fans dropping on one knee to propose mid-climax and crying inconsolably went viral.

Badola, who plays Ahaan Panday’s father in the film, said in a recent interview that he had not yet seen the movie himself but began noticing the “euphoria” online a few days after release.

“Log jo chudiya todd rahey hai, chhaatiyaan peet rahe hai (People are breaking bangles, thumping chest). I think the promotions team went a little overboard there, where people are going to see the film, putting IV drips,” he told Screen.

His remark stands in direct contrast to what director Mohit Suri claimed during a recent podcast, where he maintained that the reaction to Saiyaara had been “organic”.

Badola, however, seemed sceptical of that narrative. “The people who shared posts about the film on social media must have been told to give content in some way,” the actor said.

“Promotions are good only up to a certain level. Thank god people didn’t get their legs broken and went crawling to see the film,” he added.

However, Badola clarified that the film’s box-office numbers couldn’t have come from publicity alone. “A film would not score such a big number at the box office just because of the Instagram promotions. People actually watched the film and loved it.”

Produced by Aditya Chopra’s Yash Raj Films, Saiyaara has crossed the Rs 500-crore mark globally to emerge as the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025.