A year after Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara stormed the box office and transformed Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda into breakout stars, the film has found itself back in the headlines for an unexpected reason. On the blockbuster’s first anniversary, music composer Tanishk Bagchi has claimed that he is still waiting to receive ₹8 lakh in royalties for the title track, despite its phenomenal success.
Tanishk Bagchi claims non-payment of dues
On Saturday, Tanishk took to Instagram to share a lengthy note, claiming that he is yet to receive the pending royalties. Clarifying that his post was not an attempt to seek sympathy, the composer reflected on the sacrifices he made while creating the song and expressed his disappointment over the lack of financial returns despite its success.
“This was my first film with @yrfentertainment @yrfmusic… I agreed to everything because I believed in the music. I gave this song everything I had. From the production to the composition, working with the lyricist and singers, recording, vocal tuning, sound, arrangements every single detail mattered to me. I treated it like it was my own. whatever YRF had paid me all of that nominal amount was used to do the live and mixes ..what was left was zero ,yes. Thts wat i earned from a song so big,” Tanishk wrote.
He continued, “What hurts the most is that, as per the royalty statement, I’m still yet to receive just ₹8 lakhs in royalties for a song that has gone on to do millions of streams and views across platforms. Honestly, for the amount of work, time and passion I put into this song, ₹8 lakhs feels like peanuts. I genuinely believed a song that reached this scale would have earned much more.”
The music composer clarified that he wasn’t sharing this to seek sympathy, but to shed light on the struggles he endured while creating the song. “I’m not writing this for sympathy. I’m writing this because I know what I put into this song, and I know the sacrifices I made to bring it to life… This experience has changed the way I look at this industry. From now on, I’ll only work with producers and directors who value creativity, honesty and the people who build their music,” he wrote.
Looking back at his learnings, Tanishk shared, “One thing I’ve also learned is that sometimes you give people your everything, and when success comes, they forget who stood by them. Anyway, I leave the rest to God. Time tells every story, and karma settles every account. The only person i respect in this whole film is @mohitsuri .because of him i did this film ..and @irshadkamilofficial.”
Saiyaara’s title track has been composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah and Arslan Nizami. Penned by Irshad Kamil and sung by Faheem, the heart-wrenching lyrics pay an ode to the longing and heartbreak in love.
More about Saiyaara
Saiyaara became a phenomenon after its release in theatres last year in July. The YRF romantic drama grossed ₹577 crore worldwide, becoming not just the second-highest-grossing Indian film of 2025, but also the highest-grossing romantic film in the history of Indian cinema. It also catapulted its two leads to overnight stardom, particularly among the younger audiences. Saiyaara marked Ahaan Panday’s Bollywood debut, while Aneet Padda, who had earlier worked in Kajol’s Salaam Venky, made her first leading role appearance in films with this project.
Saiyaara tells the story of a struggling musician, Krish, who finds love with a budding journalist and poet, Vaani Batra. Their relationship faces several challenges, and how they overcome them forms the crux of the story. The film received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, with particular praise for the chemistry between the leads. It is available to watch on Netflix.