Vashu Bhagnani sues Tips Industries and David Dhawan for ₹400 crore, seeks halt to Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai release

Puja Entertainment has filed a ₹400 crore lawsuit in the Bombay High Court against Tips Industries, producer Ramesh Taurani, Kumar S Taurani and filmmaker David Dhawan, alleging unauthorised use of songs from the 1999 film Biwi No.1 in the upcoming movie Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai.

The suit claims the makers illegally used the songs “Chunnari Chunnari” and “Ishq Sona Hai” in the new film and its promotional material. Through counsels V K Dubey Associates, Puja Entertainment has sought urgent relief to restrain the release, distribution, streaming and commercial exploitation of the film featuring the disputed tracks.

Representing producer Vashu Bhagnani, advocate V K Dubey said the dispute centres on ownership of music and visual rights linked to the songs.

“We have filed a suit with a claim of ₹400 crore against Tips Music Company,” Dubey told ANI, adding that earlier agreements only covered audio rights and that Tips had approached Bhagnani in 2018 seeking visual rights.

The legal team further claimed that Puja Entertainment had since cancelled the audio rights granted to Tips and argued that the company could not use the songs unless it could prove lawful ownership.

The controversy has also extended to the film’s title, which is derived from the song “Ishq Sona Hai”. Puja Entertainment has demanded a title change and sought an additional ₹100 crore in damages if the songs are not removed from the film and promotional content.

Tips Industries rejected the allegations, saying it legally owns the music and audio rights to the songs and describing the claims as baseless.

Directed by David Dhawan, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai stars Varun Dhawan, Pooja Hegde and Mrunal Thakur, and is scheduled to release on June 5.