The original singer of the 1999 song Chunnari Chunnari from Biwi No. 1, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, slammed the reprised version of the song featuring Varun Dhawan, Pooja Hegde and Mrunal Thakur from the upcoming film Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai. Calling the new version a “bhajan,” Abhijeet claimed that Varun Dhawan can’t recreate Salman Khan’s charisma during an interview with ANI.
Sharing his first reaction to the song, Abhijeet said, “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.”
Slamming Varun for featuring in remakes of once-hit songs, Abhijeet added, “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.”
Abhijeet also revealed that the makers of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai never reached out to him before recreating the song. The origial song was sung by Abhijeet and Anuradha Sriram.
Vocals for the new version were provided by IP Singh, Jonita Gandhi, Asees Kaur, Sudhir Yaduvanshi,
“If they had approached me for the remake, I would still have rethought before doing it. My original version had a lot of acting. I am very happy that I didn’t do the song because it would have been degraded. The way we did it in the original version, Varun couldn’t have done it the same way. He played it safe,” the singer said.
“Yeh gaana Salman ki life ka biggest song tha. Jab aayi thi, tab se ab tak trending hai. Salman Khan ki life ka sabse bada hit hai ‘Chunnari Chunnari’. Uss waqt ek rising star tha, not a superstar. (This was the biggest song of Salman Khan. Ever since it came out, the song has been trending to date),” Abhijeet added.
The song triggered sharp responses online, with many calling it a bland remake that strips the nuance from the original.
About The Film
The trailer shows Varun Dhawan desperately wanting a child with his wife, played by Mrunal Thakur. He also becomes involved with Pooja Hegde’s character. Both women become pregnant and a comedy of errors ensues.
The film draws its title from the song “Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai,” which featured in David Dhawan’s 1999 comedy Biwi No. 1, starring Karisma Kapoor, Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen.
Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai also stars Maniesh Paul, Chunky Pandey and Jimmy Sheirgill in pivotal roles.
The film is slated for a June 4 release.
