Ever since the announcement of Shoojit Sircar's next directorial outing, October starring Varun Dhawan was made, everyone has been guessing who the female lead would be. While many names were rumoured to be a part of the venture, Sircar put the speculations to rest by declaring his new find - Banita Sandhu.

Shoojit is known to have a keen eye for spotting talent and launching them in his films. From Minissha Lamba (Yahaan) to Yami Gautam and Ayushmann Khuranna (Vicky Donor), he has played a mentor to many talented actors.

Banita is from Wales in United Kingdom and has done some advertising assignments including the very popular Wrigley's Doublemint (Ek Ajnabee Haseena Se) Television commercial directed by Shoojit last year.

`When it comes to the genre of romance, it is always beautiful to see a fresh pairing. Something about seeing their chemistry blossom through the reels of the film, makes you feel a part of their journey from the very beginning. For October, that was one of the main reasons why I chose Banita for the lead role opposite Varun,` says Sircar.

Talking about October, Producer Ronnie Lahiri of Rising Sun Films adds, `At Rising Sun Films, our endeavour has always been to create stories that are simple, connect with the audience and stay with them. October will hopefully be one more step in that direction.`

Toasting their previous successes (Vicky Donor, Piku), Shoojit Sircar will be once again collaborating with Juhi Chaturvedi for this film, making it all the more exciting. With a repertoire of films like Yahaan, Vicky Donor, Madras Cafe, Piku and Pink that have explored different genres and have won accolades including National Awards, Rising Sun Films' new venture, October, will be a story about love and promises to be yet another intriguing watch.