Ramesh Taurani, filmmaker David Dhawan and the team behind Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai have publicly responded to allegations made by producer Vashu Bhagnani. In an official statement released on Wednesday, the makers described the claims as a “smear campaign driven by personal vendetta.”
The statement said, “A series of baseless allegations have been made against us by Mr. Vashu Bhagnani. It is amply clear to us that this is a smear campaign driven by personal vendetta, intended to derail the release of our film Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai.”
The makers also spoke about their long professional relationship with Bhagnani, stating that it goes back to 1995. According to the statement, “When we generously offered him a 50 percent partnership and a producer credit on a project for which we had laid out all the groundwork. Coolie No. 1 went on to become a massive box office hit and gave Mr. Bhagnani a kick start in the industry.”
The statement further claimed that despite maintaining silence out of respect for their old association, Bhagnani continued spreading misinformation through social media and other platforms. The team also questioned why the legal complaint was filed in Katihar court in Bihar, which they pointed out is over 2000 kms away from Mumbai.
The makers stated that they are the “lawful owners” of the songs Chunnari Chunnari and Ishq Sona Hai. They added, “We urge the public to not pay heed to such targeted negativity. We maintain that we are the absolute and lawful owners of the songs Chunnari Chunnari and Ishq Sona Hai.”
Earlier, Tips Music had also issued a statement after Puja Entertainment approached a Bihar court, alleging that copyrighted songs and content were being commercially used without proper permission. Reports later stated that the court granted interim protection and asked all parties to maintain status quo.
During the trailer launch of the film, Ramesh Taurani had said, “Everything is fine, and going ahead everything will get sorted, it’s not a problem. And it’s a sub judice matter so we are handling it.”
However, Vashu Bhagnani later rejected those claims on social media and stated, “Nothing has been sorted with me till today. Saying ‘everything is settled’ in front of cameras does not change the truth. Nothing is over. The matter is in court, and the truth will come out there, not by passing the mic to someone else. Making such public claims while the matter is still in court is itself contempt of court.”