Veteran Bollywood singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya has spoken out against the recreation of his 1999 hit song ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ for the upcoming film ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’.
He says he was never informed about the remake and that neither the music composer nor the film’s director had the courage to tell him.
The original song and its legacy
‘Chunnari Chunnari’ was originally composed by Anu Malik. Abhijeet Bhattacharya and Anuradha Sriram sang the track together. It was on Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen in the 1999 film ‘Biwi No. 1’.
The song became one of the most recognisable numbers of its era. Abhijeet admitted that he never expected it to become such an era-defining song from the 90s. He said that in the last 25 years, he used to hear it at public celebrations and wonder why people loved it.
Despite its massive popularity, the singer does not have a personal attachment to the track. He stated that the song was not a great song for him, personally, and never was. He revealed that the original idea behind the song was simply to make it a hit through catchy lyrics and rhythm.
The new film and the remake
Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur, and Pooja Hegde are currently shooting for ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’. The film director is David Dhawan and also stars Mouni Roy. It is going to release in theatres on June 5, 2026.
A video from the sets of the film went viral in which Varun Dhawan was seen dancing with Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde on the recreated version of ‘Chunnari Chunnari’. The clip sparked immediate reactions online. Several fans pushed back against what they saw as yet another beloved classic being remade for a newer audience.
Abhijeet’s anger
Abhijeet said he was completely unaware of the remake. He claimed that neither the film’s director nor the music composer had the courage to inform him.
In an interview with HT City, he said in Hindi: “Mujhe music composer, film ke director kisi ne nahi bataya ki iss song ko remake kiya jaa raha hai. Himmat bhi nahi kar sakte batane ki.” This translates to: neither the music composer nor the film’s director told him about the remake, and they would not dare to tell him either.
A pattern in Bollywood
This is not the first time Abhijeet has seen his songs recreated. Several of his iconic songs have remakes from new-age composers in recent years. They include ‘Tan Tana Tan’ from ‘Judwaa 2’, ‘Ole Ole’ from ‘Jawaani Jaaneman’, ‘Husnn Hai Suhana’ from ‘Coolie No. 1’.