Mahesh Bhatt denies signing Sidharth Malhotra for ‘Raaz 4’ & ‘Murder 4″

Recently, it had been stated that Sidharth Malhotra may well be featuring as the new hero in the ��Raaz�۪ and Murder�۪ franchise. However, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has gone on record to rubbish the rumours, confirming that the forthcoming instalments will have Emraan Hashmi as male lead.

According to Filmfare, Bhatt said, ���Going by the numbers it is impossible for us to separate the Murder and Raaz franchise from Emraan Hashmi since he is an integral and inseparable part of the brand .We have burnt our fingers thoroughly with Murder 3 , a venture Emraan did not spearhead and we do not plan to repeat that. Whoever is spreading these rumours have vested interests and is way out of line. Hope this puts the malice to rest – We will not make Murder or Raaz without Emraan Hashmi�۝.

Randeep Hooda in ��Murder 3�۪ (2011) is the one time that Vishesh Films decided to try out a different hero but as the film didn�۪t fare particularly well, it seems they have since decided to return to Hashmi to deliver hits at the box office.