Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde-starrer Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai recently unveiled the much-anticipated recreation of Biwi No 1’s Chunnari Chunnari. Creators Akshay Raheja & IP Singh are quite ecstatic about the response the song has received. “We are getting a lot of love and not just that, for us the blessings of Anu Malik sir, Sameer sir, the original creators is what matters the most to us. So we are just over the moon about it,” IP says, calling their song a “reimagination and not a remix”. Akshay adds, “We are already getting videos of DJs playing it at weddings, at house parties, and it’s not even been a week.”
While the song has found its audience, it also has faced criticism from a section who feel the new song doesn’t live up to the bar of the original. Reacting to the criticism, IP says, “Art is subjective. Some people will like it, some people won’t. In the end, we know that we worked on it from our side with our whole hearts. We tried to honour the essence of the song, and its nostalgia. After a week maybe, they also start to like it.” Akshay adds, “When we work with so many senior artistes like David ji, Kumar ji, Ramesh ji, there has to be some merit that it is a good song, that’s why it got selected and released.”
But among the criticism, one important voice is also of the singer of the original song, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, and the duo is hoping to get his blessings too soon. “He’s a veteran and there’s only respect for him from our end. I’m sure he has his point of view, he has his experience, and he has reasons to say whatever he’s saying. For us, he is a legend, we have grown up listening to his songs. So, we just hope that sooner or later, he also gives us his blessings because we are kids trying to do something here,” IP says.
Resonating with him, Akshay adds, “He’s a legend. He must be coming from a place, because he originally recorded this song. His expression is coming from his experience. Now, obviously, the style of music has changed and evolved. So, it’s completely fine for him to have this view as everyone has their own thoughts. We have received so much love from Anu Malik ji, Sameer ji, so it can’t get better. We are mostly grateful and focusing on the positives.”
Akshay & IP see it as a “responsibility” to present the iconic song to the Gen-z audience in a new way. “We like to sample the original sounds in our recreations. But we also try to give it a fresh twist and give chance to newer talents,” Akshay says. The duo also comment on the track being embroiled in a legal battle over its rights, and while they don’t concern themselves with the legalities, they are enjoying the curiosity it has built around the song. “So many people are talking about it, whether they like it or not. Anything else around it, we can’t do anything about that so we don’t get perturbed by it,” IP ends.