The background of the Bhagnani-Taurani war

Krishnan M

The reported recreation of the superhit song Chunari Chunari in David Dhawan’s June 5 release, Hai Jawaani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, starring Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur, and Pooja Hegde, has opened up a can of worms in the ongoing, yet slightly ambiguous, IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) issue.

Both the audio company (Tips) and the production house (Puja Entertainment) say that they own the rights. Bhagnani says his company, Puja Entertainment, has the IP, film, and digital rights of Chunari Chunari. Tips Industries, which owns the audio rights, has debunked this, staking its own claim.

The original version of the song was composed by Anu Malik for the film Biwi No. 1 (1999). It was rendered by Abhijeet and Anuradha Sriram, and it featured Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen.

The matter is currently in court. The Civil Judge (Senior Division) in Katihar, Bihar, granted interim protection to Puja Entertainment. The court ordered both sides to maintain a “status quo” on the disputed works to prevent irreparable damage to the plaintiff’s proprietary rights while the matter is being fully litigated.

Over the last few days, Bhagnani and the Tauranis have given media statements. Bhagnani argues that while he originally gave Tips the audio rights in perpetuity, the digital video rights and creative authorization to recreate or alter the intellectual property remain with him because he is the film producer.

Tips Industries vehemently denies Bhagnani’s allegations, asserting that it has legally owned and commercially exploited the rights in question for nearly three decades. This is how the official story is playing out in the public domain.

The friendship before the fallout But the ‘fight’ apparently happened because Dhawan is rumoured to have gone back on his word.

This is the film industry that we are talking about, and there is always a grapevine version of everything that plays out publicly. We worked on bringing you the background on the dosti (friendship) before the dushmani (enmity).

In the early ’90s, when Vashu Bhagnani was relatively new to the Mumbai film scene, he and the owners of Tips, Kumar Taurani and Ramesh Taurani, shared a friendship. Their personal relationship also extended to a close professional equation, with Bhagnani entrusting the Tauranis with the audio rights of several of his films like Coolie No. 1 (1995), Hero No. 1 (1997), and Biwi No. 1 (1999).

Vashu also had a deep connection with David Dhawan back then. Coincidentally, all of Puja Entertainment’s blockbusters were directed by Dhawan, who was often referred to as the Manmohan Desai of the ’90s. In other words, he made typical Bollywood commercial fare, catering to the lowest common denominator.

Coolie No. 1 changed everything

During the pandemic, Vashu and David collaborated on remaking Coolie No. 1 (2020) with David’s actor son, Varun Dhawan, and Sara Ali Khan. The film never managed a theatrical release because of the pandemic and had to go straight to OTT. It was critically panned globally for its outdated humour and loud performances. Besides losing face, Puja Entertainment reportedly suffered a financial loss as well. As recently as a few days ago, Bhagnani slammed David Dhawan, saying he had lost Rs 27 crore at that point.

The promise that allegedly broke

The real resentment between Dhawan and Bhagnani is said to have actually begun five years ago because of a rumoured “broken” promise. It is said that in 2021, David, in his bid to pacify Bhagnani, had reportedly promised to compensate him by remaking Biwi No. 1 for Puja Entertainment. Varun was meant to play Salman’s role, and his elder son, Rohit, was to replace David as the director. In other words, DD was supposedly keen to maintain a good relationship with Vashu, and he felt that by doing another film for his banner, he would compensate him for the fiasco of Coolie No. 1.

HJTIHH sparks fresh controversy

For four years, there was radio silence from both sides on this reported conversation about Biwi No. 1. Then, all of a sudden, David took on the task of directing his actor son Varun in Hai Jawaani Toh Ishq Hona Hai for Tips, leaving Bhagnani out in the cold. To add insult to injury, Vashu Bhagnani saw a reprised version of Chunari Chunari from Biwi No. 1 being used in HJTIHH. There are also rumours that he noticed similarities in the scenes and situations of HJTIHH and his own Biwi No. 1.

Silence from Dhawans and Tips

There are some who argue that since Hai Jawaani Toh Ishq Hona Hai is an unreleased film, there is no way the Bhagnanis could have seen it. However, there is a section saying that since the trailer and songs are out, Bhagnani’s educated guesses on the similarities between his own film, Biwi No. 1, and the upcoming comedy HJTIHH could have an iota of merit.

Not willing to lie down and take the betrayal, Vashu Bhagnani is said to have approached the legal system to seek justice.

Since the matter is in court, Tips and the Dhawans (David and Varun) did not offer any comment on the matter of their fight with Vashu Bhagnani while addressing the press during the trailer launch event of HJTIHH on Saturday in Mumbai.

Is David Dhawan’s secret promise and four years of silence responsible for this sorry state?

‘Nothing is settled’

Producer Ramesh Taurani had told the media that the matter had been settled with Vashu Bhagnani. However, Bhagnani reacted strongly on social media, questioning who the settlement had been made with. He maintained that the matter is still in court and that nothing has been resolved.