By Subhash K Jha

It's final. After the massive talent hunt for new faces to star in Aashqui 2 the sequel to the pioneering historic 1990 musical hit Aashiqui which launched the careers of Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal and established Nadeem-Shravan among the most successful music-composing duos of all times, has zeroed on the three faces that would share the limelight in the new-age Aashiqui.

While the two guys in the love triangle would be played by Shaad Randhawa and Aditya Roy Kapoor, the girl who has bagged the female lead in Aashiqui 2 is none other than Shraddha Kapoor.

The pretty petite daughter of veteran villain Shakti Kapoor, Shraddha's career has been suffering a string of false starts and glitches.

After an inglorious launch in the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Teen Patti Shradha was supposed to play the lead opoosite Prateik in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's production of My Friend Pinto. The role passed on to Kalki Koechlin and Shraddha ended up doing the Yashraj film Luv Ka The End which did nothing for her career.

Now the Bhatts have taken charge of Shraddha's career.



Confirming her presence in Aashiqui 2 producer Mukesh Bhatt says, "Yes, Shraddha Kapoor is playing the lead with the two boys Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shaad Randhawa. We found her to be very talented

. All three actors have extremely challenging dramatic roles. It's not a film about only looking good, singing and dancing.

These are performance-oriented parts. And we're convinced that Aashiqui 2 would do for Shraddha, Aditya and Shaad what the first Aashiqui did for Rahul, Anu and Deepak Taijori. "

The buzz is that Aashiqui 2 is a remake of the Bhatts' 1990 Anil Kapoor-Meenakshi Sheshadri-Govinda love triangle Awaargi.

However Mukesh Bhatt denies this. "Aashiqui 2 is not a remake of any of our films. It's an original script. A very contemporary love stories dealing with mature emotions. "

Signficantly the pathbreaking music score from the 1990 musical blockbuster Aashiqui will not be repeated in the sequel.



Promises Mukesh Bhatt, "We're completely resisting the temptation of carrying over Nadeem Shravan's chartbusters from Aashiqui into Aashiqui 2. Jeet Ganguly is doing completely original songs in Aashiqui 2.

While Aashiqui had 11 songs, Aashiqui 2 will have only 7 songs. But it would be hard for listeners to decide which of the 7 songs they like the best. We promise you Aashiqui 2 will revive the era of melodios film music, just like Aashiqui had done 22 years ago. "

Interestingly after the star hunt for Aashiqui 2 all the three main roles have gone to star kids. While Shraddha Kapoor is Shakti Kapoor's daughter, Shaad Randhawa who was launched by the Bhatts as a villain in Woh Lamhe is yesteryears' legendary actress Mumtaz's nephew.

And Aditya Roy Kapoor launched by Vipul Shah in Action Replay and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish, is UTV's Siddharth Roy Kapoor's kid brother.