Filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt’s Vishesh Films issued a notice saying the banner is the “producer and joint rightful owner of the intellectual property rights associated with the Aashiqui franchise”. Any communication about the upcoming film without the production house’s involvement is “unauthorized” and “fraudulent”.

Bhatt tells us, “There was a lot of news circulating about Aashiqui 3. People were claiming, ‘We’re writing the songs [for the film]’. Someone said that so and so had been roped in. Everybody started taking ownership of Aashiqui, which was alarming. That’s when I thought it was important to let people know that nothing can be finalized or announced without our approval because we are the intellectual property holders of the franchise.”

Denying any tiff with producer Bhushan Kumar and his company, the 71-year-old adds, “The creative [aspect] is my domain. Bhushan was there for parts one and two, so how can he not be a part of the third film?”