New Delhi: A Mumbai court granted interim protection to Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment in its case against Tips Music Limited over the alleged unauthorised use of their films and songs. The suit also claimed commercial misuse of intellectual property rights associated with some of Bollywood’s most iconic films and music catalogues.
The proceedings initiated by Pooja Entertainment concern rights associated with Hero No. 1 (1997), Biwi No. 1 (1999), Coolie No. 1 (1995), Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998), Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa (2000) and Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai (2001).
The courtroom battle started last year after a series of leaked videos from the sets of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, directed by David Dhawan, started circulating online. The videos showed Varun Dhawan, who is headlining the project, shooting for a recreated version of the track ‘Chunnari Chunnari’, from Salman Khan’s film, Biwi No. 1. But the viral clips soon snowballed into a full-blown intellectual property row between the two industry giants.
Bhagnani claimed he was “emotionally hurt” when he learned that the song had been used without his permission.
The legal battle has also hampered the relationship between Bhagnani and David Dhawan, who previously collaborated on Biwi No 1.
Tips denies Bhagnani’s claims
On 13 May, the Civil Judge (Senior Division)-I court in Bihar’s Katihar ordered all parties to maintain the status quo. Following the judgment, TIPS denied the allegations levelled against it in the ongoing legal dispute, calling Pooja Entertainment’s claims “malicious” and “misconceived.”
The music label released a statement on social media responding to Bhagnani’s allegations, claimingthe legal action was an attempt to harm the company’s reputation and goodwill.
Tips also reiterated that it is the lawful owner of the music involved in the case.
“Tips Music Limited (‘Tips’) has become aware of a suit filed by Puja Entertainment (India) Ltd. (‘PEIL’) before the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Katihar, Bihar,” Tips posted on Instagram.
“This is a victory for our producers,” Bhagnani told ANI.
He explained how film rights worked in the past. The producer said that for many years, the Hindi film industry functioned largely on trust. Producers would usually sell audio rights permanently to music companies, while video rights were licensed for shorter periods, often five years at a time. Producers earned rental income from these video rights, which would later be renegotiated.
Bhagnani added that before streaming platforms became popular, no one imagined digital video rights would become such a major source of income. As the industry changed, producers and music companies often discussed these issues informally.
In 2018, he asked Tips to return the digital video rights of the films they had worked on together because he was not receiving any revenue from them.
“When you make a film, the producer is the first to bring in money for the movie… in the next 10 years, if Ipooja e get music, video, or digital rights, I can earn royalties, which gives me a chance to come back home or at least keep my kitchen running… I want that through this, 50 or more producers should come with me and stand together, and the government, judge, or court should give a decision… that the producer should get royalties as well… I will follow the court’s order on this,” Bhagnani said.
He added that he has repeatedly asked Tips to share earnings statements from the past two decades to understand how much revenue their films had generated online. However, discussions continued for years without a final resolution because the industry traditionally operated on goodwill and relationships.
Also Read: Rohit Shetty drops Golmaal 5 teaser. And Sharman Joshi magic is back this time
‘Was emotionally hurt’
Pooja Entertainment produced Coolie No. 1 (2025) starring Varun Dhawan, directed by David Dhawan. Since the film was not a commercial high performer, both sides reportedly agreed that Varun would act in two future films for Pooja Entertainment, and David’s elder son, Rohit, would direct one of them. Discussions also began about remaking Biwi No.1, but the project was later postponed.
Bhagnani said that he was hurt not just financially, but emotionally, because he had invested significant effort into making Biwi No.1 a success. He argued that there should have been at least a conversation before recreating one of the film’s songs, as the rights legally belonged to him.
The producer also put forth the demand of reviewing the script for the upcoming film, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Ha, to check whether any of his songs or other content has been used. Bhagnani said that if no protected material has been copied, he would have no objection to the film’s release.
Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, also starring Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde, is currently scheduled to release on 5 June.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)