Karan Johar to launch Lakshya, Shanaya Kapoor in Bedhadak

Producer Karan Johar is set to launch a new generation of young actors into the Hindi film industry with his next venture, Bedhadak.

Directed by Shashank Khaitan, the film will mark the cinematic debut of Shanaya Kapoor and Lakshya and star Gurfateh Pirzada.

The makers shared the looks of each of their characters, which were unveiled via posters on social media.

This is the third trio of artistes launched by the production house after Alia Bhatt, Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan in Student Of The Year (2012), followed by Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria in Student Of The Year 2 (2019). 

While Gurfateh Pirzada made his debut in the Kiara Advani-starrer Guilty (2020), Lakshya was in several television series like Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil and Porus. The duo, along with actor Dhairya Karwa, had been signed on by the production's in-house talent agency, Dharma Cornerstone Agency, in 2021.

Shanaya, the daughter of actor Sanjay Kapoor, shared the first look of her character, Nimrit, saying, "I am extremely grateful and humbled to join the Dharma Family with Bedhadak - directed by the brilliant Shashank Khaitan. I can’t wait to kickstart this journey, I need all your blessings and love!" 

The artistes shared the first looks of their characters as well. Pirzada and Lakshya play young men named Angad and Karan in Khaitan's film. 

The producers had teased the development on social media a day before the announcement, stating, "This generation is brimming with talent like never before and it’s time we tap into it! We, at Dharma Movies, are ecstatic to bring in 3 new members to our family of storytelling (sic)."

Johar recently produced Shakun Batra's Gehraiyaan (2022) and Madhuri Dixit Nene's maiden web-series, The Fame Game (2022), which is being streamed on Netflix.