‘Varun Dhawan iss gaane se Salman Khan nahi ban sakta…’: Abhijeet Bhattacharya unimpressed with ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ recreation

MUMBAI: Veteran playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya has reacted to the recreated version of his iconic 1999 track “Chunnari Chunnari” in Varun Dhawan’s upcoming film ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’.

The original voice behind the chartbuster, which featured in Salman Khan and Karisma Kapoor starrer ‘Biwi No. 1’, expressed his dismay over the recreation amid the ongoing debate surrounding Bollywood’s trend of remixing classic songs.

Abhijeet Bhattacharya reflected on the legacy of the ‘Chunnari Chunnari song’ and shared, “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. Since it came out, the song has been trending to date)”

Reacting to the recreated version of the song, Abhijeet Bhattacharya called out Varun Dhawan for doing “second-hand” films.

“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.

Reacting to the latest recreation of ‘Chunnari Chunnari’, Bhattacharya joked that it sounded like 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 quipped.

Abhijeet Bhattacharya also revealed that the makers of ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’ never reached out to him before recreating ‘Chunnari Chunnari’.

“If they had approached me for the remake, I would still rethink 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’ve degraded. The way we did it in the original version, Varun couldn’t have done it the same manner. He played it safe,” the singer shared.

A latest track from ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’, the recreated version of ‘Chunnari Chunnari’ has been picturised on Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur, and Pooja Hegde.

However, as soon as the song was unveiled, it left the internet divided, with many slamming the track. The comment section under the TIPS post was flooded with reactions from netizens who expressed their disappointment over the recreated version.

The film is directed by David Dhawan and backed by Ramesh Taurani of Tips Industries. ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’ is scheduled to be released on June 5. (ANI)