MUMBAI:New soaps from the Balaji stable will now showcase new talent.

In a bid to beat the 'starry' date problems of the artistes it has spawned and made successes of, and to provide viewers a much needed respite from the familiar faces across serials, India's hit soap factory has adopted the novel strategy of holding mass auditions.

An advertisement by the production house calling out to 'pretty faces and handsome men in the age-group of 18 and 28' in the Sunday morning papers, saw about 900 aspirants make a beeline for the studios yesterday. The mass audition was held in Sankraman Studios, in Goregaon, a suburb in Mumbai .

"Balaji Telefilms has always encouraged new talent. We are looking out for fresh faces for our forthcoming serials, films and projects. Also the problem of getting dates with the regular artistes was one of the main reasons that prompted us to hold a mass audition, " says Balaji COO Rajesh Pavithran. The production house is keen on launching new faces in lead roles as the regular artistes have been exploited enough, he adds.

"We have about three serials in the pipeline. All three of them are based on entirely new concepts , quite different from the popular 'saas-bahu' sagas currently on air," says Balaji casting director Jeet Chaudhary.

The soap factory hopes to shortlist the candidates within a week.