After producer Vashu Bhagnani’s alleged copyright infringement against Ramesh Taurani’s Tips Industries over the recreated ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ song, from David Dhawan’s upcoming comedy Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, the film’s team has issued a statement claiming it has full rights over the song from Dhawan’s 1999 hit Biwi No 1.
Bhagnani had claimed that while he sold the audio rights of Biwi No 1 songs to Tips Music, the “video rights” continue to remain with his production house Pooja Entertainment. Hence, he said, he was shocked to see the ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ dance steps, originally filmed on Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen in Biwi No 1, being recreated on Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur, and Pooja Hegde in Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai.
Responding to this, on Wednesday a statement attributed to Taurani, Tips, and the film’s team, was released. “Recently, a series of baseless allegations have been made against us by Mr. Vashu Bhagnani. It is amply clear to us that this is a smear campaign driven by personal vendetta, intended to derail the release of our film Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai,” it stated.
“Our association with Mr. Bhagnani dates back to 1995, when we generously offered him a 50 percent partnership and a producer credit on a project for which we had laid out all the ground work. Coolie No. 1 went on to become a massive box office hit and gave Mr. Bhagnani a kick-start in the industry,” it added, referring to Dhawan’s 1995 comedy, starring Govinda and Karisma Kapoor, which was produced by Pooja Entertainment and distributed by Tips Industries Ltd.
“Over the years, we continued to extend our heartfelt support and good wishes to him. It is out of respect for this long-standing relationship that we chose to remain silent until now,” read the statement. This past Saturday, at the trailer launch of the film in Mumbai, Taurani assured the media that “everything has been sorted” between him and Bhagnani, given that the trailer launch was postponed by a couple of days after Pooja Entertainment sent him a legal notice.
“However, Mr. Bhagnani remains determined to spread misinformation via various platforms including social media. Suspiciously, he has also chosen to file a legal complaint in Kathihar court in Bihar – over 2000 km away from Mumbai. He decided to take legal action against all associated with our film rather than engage in direct dialogue,” added the statement.
“We are deeply disheartened and disappointed by Mr. Bhagnani’s conduct. We urge the public to not pay heed to such targeted negativity. We maintain that we are the absolute and lawful owners of the songs ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ and ‘Ishq Sona Hai’. Since this matter is sub judice, this will be the only statement we shall be making at this time. We have full faith in the legal system of our country and are confident that justice will prevail,” read the statement.
Previously Bhagnani had also alleged that David Dhawan backtracked from his promise of directing the sequel to Biwi No 1 with Varun for Pooja Entertainment as a measure to make up for the losses incurred on their previous collaboration, the 2020 reboot of Coolie No 1. The Varun and Sara Ali Khan-starrer landed directly on Prime Video India owing to the theatre shutdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.