No Kareena, Katrina for Hrithik, Anushka bags 'Shuddhi'

After a long wait the cat is finally out of the bag. It's not Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif or Deepika Padukone but Anushka Sharma will star opposite Hrithik Roshan in Karan Johar's next 'Shuddhi'

'Shuddhi' will bring together Hrithik and Anushka for the first time.

The film will be directed by Karan Malhotra, who also worked with Hrithik in 'Agneepath'.

Ever since Karan announced the film, there have been many rumours about it. The noisiest has been that it is an adaptation of Amish Tripathi’s novel ‘The Immortals Of Meluha’.

However Karan rubbished these rumours saying, “‘Shuddhi’ is not an adaptation of ‘Immortals of Meluha’. Shuddhi is a totally different film."

Then began the hunt for a heroine to cast opposite Hrithik. All the big names --  Kareena, Katrina and Deepika -- were on the table.

Kareena and Karan are good friends, and Katrina and Hrithik have scored the hit ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’. Deepika is firmly in Karan's camp and Dharma Production's next offering 'Ye Jawani Hai Deewani’ has her in the lead.

On the other hand, Kareena is also doing Dharma's ‘Gori Tere Pyar Mein’. Karan proved all these assumptions wrong and choose Anushka Sharma.

Anushka debuted with the Yashraj banner and is now entering the Dharma camp. Looking at her career, if one disregards Ranveer Singh, all her co-stars have been A-listers. ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ and ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ had Shah Rukh Khan. She starred opposite Akshay Kumar in 'Patiala House'. On her list next is ‘Peekay’ with Aamir Khan.

‘Shuddhi’ is a love story written by Karan Malhotra and his wife Ekta. Karan is believed to want to make this movie on a large scale. It's a huge opportunity for Anushka. Hrithik too shoulders high expectations has his last movie with the director was a hit.

Shooting is supposed to start by December and the film will release by next Diwali.

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