Attending the David Dhawan Film Festival hosted by PVR INOX in Mumbai on Saturday, May 23, the Sikandar megastar stepped onto the media carpet alongside David and Varun Dhawan. Facing a wall of rolling cameras, Salman smirked, pointed directly at a blushing Varun, and loudly announced to the crowd.
"Isne mera ek aur gaana utha liya..." (This guy has stolen yet another one of my tracks...)
A visibly embarrassed Varun immediately hid a laugh, pleading on the mic: "Arey bhai, rehne do!" (Please brother, let it be!) Salman's quick-witted jab was a direct nod to Varun’s career layout, which has frequently relied on recycling Big 'Bhai' properties, including Judwaa 2 ("Chalti Hai Kya 9 Se 12", "Oonchi Hai Building") and now the iconic Biwi No.1 chartbuster.
The Backstory: Vashu Bhagnani Accuses David Dhawan of Ethical Breach
While the stage banter left the auditorium in splits, the actual corporate framework beneath the joke is intensely tense. The Chunari Chunari remake has drawn severe public criticism from veteran producer Vashu Bhagnani, who controlled the rights to the original 1999 film.
Holding an explosive virtual press conference, Bhagnani revealed that Tips Films and the production team utilized the legacy track without securing his consent:
The Emotional Fracture: Bhagnani emphasized that his anger isn't a financial concern but a deeply personal, ethical issue. He cited his decades-long relationship with director David Dhawan, whom he considered "family."
The Technical Cover-Up Allegation: Dropping a massive bomb, Bhagnani alleged that the 48-hour delay that forced the cancellation of Varun's trailer launch last Thursday was not caused by a technical glitch as the studio claimed. Instead, he hinted the pause was a direct result of emergency legal blocks being moved over the unauthorized song usage.
The Uncomfortable Connection: Making the situation weirder, Vashu Bhagnani’s own son is reportedly an integrated part of the Hai Jawani... production machinery, leaving the veteran producer deeply hurt that no one directly approached him.
The Legacy Matrix: Varun Dhawan’s Salman Khan Portfolio
This isn't the first time Varun has stepped into Salman’s dance shoes. For trade tracking experts, Varun’s commercial brand layout has practically built an entire sub-genre out of inherited Salman Khan nostalgia:
Original Property (Salman Khan) Recreated Property (Varun Dhawan) The Structural Outcome "Chalti Hai Kya 9 Se 12" (Judwaa, 1997) "Chalti Hai Kya" (Judwaa 2, 2017) Massive streaming success; grossed ₹200Cr+ worldwide by targeting millennial nostalgia. "Oonchi Hai Building" (Judwaa, 1997) "Oonchi Hai Building 2.0" (Judwaa 2, 2017) Consolidated Varun’s positioning as the modern-day heir to 90s slapstick energy. "Chunari Chunari" (Biwi No. 1, 1999) "Chunari Chunari 2026" (Hai Jawani..., 2026) Active Legal Row; used as the marquee promotional asset alongside Pooja Hegde.
Singers and Retiring Directors: The Internal Backlash
The friction surrounding the track has rapidly trickled down to the original musical curators. Legendary playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya—who voiced the original chartbuster opposite Anuradha Sriram—issued a blunt public statement over the weekend:
"Neither the music composer nor the film’s director had the basic courtesy or the courage to tell me directly that the track was being remade."
The timing of this legal and musical headache is incredibly bittersweet for the Dhawan household. During a fireside chat at the festival, filmmaker Karan Johar broke down in tears after David Dhawan heavily hinted that Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai (releasing June 5, 2026) will likely serve as the final directorial film of his historic, multi-decade career due to evolving health concerns.
"Walking Bare-Bodied": The Ultimate Swag
Attempting to steer the media attention back to lighter shores, Varun shared a hilarious domestic secret about how deeply working with Salman historically altered his father David's real-world lifestyle:
"My father started walking bare-bodied a lot around the house after working with Salman Khan! Somewhere you start feeling that you are Salman! There was a completely different level of confidence in him. That is the exact level of swag Salman has—he makes everyone around him feel loved and incredibly young."
SantaBanta Verdict:
Salman Khan remains the ultimate Teflon asset of Bollywood. He can walk straight into an event where a song from his movie is trapped in an active, multi-million rupee legal dispute between industry titans Ramesh Taurani and Vashu Bhagnani, and dissolve the entire room’s tension with a single-line roast. While the Chunari Chunari controversy highlights a real, growing ethical fatigue in Bollywood regarding lazy, uncredited song remakes, Salman’s public blessing and leg-pulling proves that his personal family ties with David Dhawan fly much higher than courtroom paperwork.
