Saturday afternoon delivered exactly the kind of unscripted chaos Bollywood thrives on. During the highly anticipated press event for David Dhawan’s upcoming comedy Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, producer Ramesh Taurani officially acknowledged the escalating intellectual property dispute with Vashu Bhagnani’s Puja Entertainment. Taurani kept his cards close to his chest, telling the Mumbai media crowd, “There’s no problem… we are handling it.”
But lead actor Varun Dhawan had zero interest in playing it safe. Taking the stage alongside co-stars Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde, Dhawan spontaneously belted out a few lines of the hit track “Jeena Laga Hoon.” Without missing a beat, he turned directly to Taurani in front of the flashing cameras and asked, “Ramesh ji, we have the rights to this song, right?” (translated from Hindi). The room erupted into laughter.
The joke landed perfectly because of the very real legal heat currently bearing down on the project. The clash revolves around a lawsuit filed by Puja Entertainment before a Civil Judge in Katihar, Bihar. Bhagnani’s team claims the new film features an unauthorized recreation of the iconic 1999 track “Chunari Chunari” from Biwi No. 1. The makers were originally supposed to drop the promotional footage on May 21. However, intense legal pressure forced a sudden cancellation, which Taurani quickly brushed off as a “technical glitch” while fans waited outside the venue, according to a Times of India report.
The stakes are incredibly high for the studio. Bhagnani’s legal representatives previously pushed the court for a “status quo” order, explicitly warning that the film’s team could face contempt proceedings if they moved forward without resolving the music ownership clash. Tips Industries quickly retaliated with a public notice of their own, asserting they have legitimately owned and exploited these audio rights for nearly three decades. Despite the courtroom threats, Saturday’s makeup event successfully revealed the cast details and the final release date.
Dhawan’s off-the-cuff humor successfully deflected tension away from the studio executives for the afternoon. With the film officially rolling toward its theatrical debut, the courts in Bihar will determine who actually owns the rights to the nostalgia driving the box office.