New Delhi: Singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya has criticised the remix version of “Chunnari Chunnari” from the upcoming Varun Dhawan-starrer Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, calling it a ‘bhajan’.
“When I heard the song, I thought it was a bhajan. ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ was originally a romantic track, and they have now turned it into a bhajan,” he told news agency ANI.
The remix version, released on Tuesday, has been sung by IP Singh, Jonita Gandhi and Asees Kaur.
The original “Chunari Chunari” from Biwi No.1 (1999) featured Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen, with vocals by Bhattacharya and Anuradha Sriram.
Bhattacharya, who has been courting controversies of late with his unfiltered remarks, also took a swipe at Dhawan’s film career, labelling his movies as ‘second hand’.
“The actor (Varun Dhawan) has only done second-hand films, especially when his father (David Dhawan) directed the original films. He also uses the same songs that were once a hit. Varun Dhawan iss gaane se Salman Khan nahi ban sakta (Varun Dhawan can’t become Salman Khan by doing my songs). There is a big difference between Salman Khan and Varun Dhawan,” he said.
But Salman, while promoting the film at the David Dhawan film festival on 23 May, jokingly said “Isne ek aur ganna utha liya (He picked up one more song)” teasing the remix version of his song “Chunnari Chunnari”.
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Back-to-back remakes
Dhawan has earlier appeared in films adapted from David Dhawan’s old hits. In 2020, he starred in Coolie No 1, a remake of the 1995 film starring Govinda and Karisma Kapoor. The remake featured Varun alongside Sara Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal and Jaaved Jaaferi.
He also headlined Judwaa 2 (2017), a sequel and reboot of the 1997 Salman Khan-starrer Judwaa, continuing David Dhawan’s trend of revisiting his popular commercial entertainers for a new generation.
Varun has also worked in films adapted from regional cinema. Main Tera Hero (2014), directed by David Dhawan, was adapted from the Telugu blockbuster Kandireega (2011), directed by Santosh Srinivas. Meanwhile, Baby John (2024), directed by Kalees, is a remake of Atlee’s Tamil hit Theri (2016).
Directed by David Dhawan and also starring Mrunal Thakur, Pooja Hegde and Mouni Roy, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai is set to release on June 5.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)