Last month, an Arijit Singh number, which was doing the rounds of social media, was touted to be a leaked song from the soundtrack of Aashiqui 3. The claim was found to be baseless soon after. The incident was probably the reason why producer Mukesh Bhatt issued a public notice in a trade magazine last week, stating that Vishesh Films is “the producer and joint rightful owner of the intellectual property rights and derivative rights” associated with the popular film franchise. The notice further stated that any communication related to the franchise made without the production house’s involvement would be considered fraudulent and may result in legal ramifications.

While Bhatt understands the anticipation around Kartik Aaryan-led Aashiqui 3, he is seeing red at the song fiasco. He says, “No song has been composed yet. How can it be leaked? It was important to issue the public notice as I am the copyright holder and the creative fountainhead of the Aashiqui franchise.”

The producer is also miffed at the rumours surrounding the casting of Anurag Basu’s directorial venture. Several names—from Deepika Padukone to Katrina Kaif, from Fatima Sana Shaikh to Akanksha Sharma—have been thrown around as the love story’s female lead. “This is all rubbish,” asserts Bhatt.

“We will introduce a new [actor]. These [talent] agencies are throwing names of actresses as they want to promote their talent, but I don’t want my franchise to be a part of somebody else’s agenda.”

There was talk that Aashiqui 3 would roll by the year-end. However, Bhatt dismisses the idea, explaining that the script has yet to be finalized.

“Anurag is busy with Metro… In Dino. I want to be completely convinced about the script before we start anything.” It’s also heard that Basu may focus on the Kishore Kumar biopic with Ranbir Kapoor next year.

The Aashiqui franchise began in 1990, its success making Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal overnight stars. Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor repeated the magic in 2013 with Aashiqui 2. Naturally then, expectations are high from the third instalment.

“As of now, we have Kartik on board as the male lead. Everything is tentative till I get a script from Anurag. If it doesn’t come from him or if he doesn’t like the script, we can make it with some other director. Similarly, for some reason, if Kartik feels he doesn’t suit the character, he has the right to choose to walk out. Aashiqui and Aashiqui 2 didn’t depend on any external forces or star cast. We created stars with the films.”