When will Bollywood stop recycling hits? Varun Dhawan’s Chunnari Chunnari remake feeds remix fatigue
The nostalgic nod has instead turned into a familiar debate
Bollywood’s remakes are here again, and this time, it has dragged a 1999 classic back into the spotlight, dusted it off, and sent it out to face a very 2026 problem: An audience that's asking the question: "Do we really need this?”
The recreated version of Chunnari Chunnari from Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, featuring Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde, has sparked a full-blown social media backlash. The nostalgic nod has instead turned into a familiar debate, one that Bollywood seems to revisit every few months with the consistency of a badly looped remix: Where exactly has originality gone?
To note, in the past few years, we've had the recreations of Humma Humma, Masakali, Bhool Bhulaiyya, Laila Main Laila..most of which, to be fair, have been met with much derision.
And now, well, Chunnari Chunnari.
Released on Tuesday, the new track is a reimagining of the Biwi No. 1 hit, originally picturised on Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor and Sushmita Sen, with music by Anu Malik and vocals by Abhijeet Bhattacharya and Anuradha Sriram. The new version, however, hasn’t enjoyed the same fate. As soon as it dropped, social media lit up with disappointment, with many viewers questioning the need to revisit a track that was already firmly etched into pop culture memory. It belonged to a certain era, and time, that was designed for the 90s, and for those who grew up during that time.
Why bring it back now?
Adding sharper edges to the conversation, original singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya did not hold back in his reaction. Speaking to ANI, he reflected on the legacy of the original track and its association with Salman Khan.
“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.”
But his criticism didn’t stop at nostalgia. He also took aim at the current trend of recycling hits, and Varun Dhawan’s apparent comfort zone within it.
“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. There is a big difference between Salman Khan and Varun Dhawan. (Varun Dhawan can't become Salman Khan like this).
He also revealed that the makers never approached him for permission or collaboration before recreating the track, adding that even if they had, he would have thought twice. In hindsight, he suggested, not being involved might have been the better artistic decision — for the song’s legacy, if nothing else.
The recreated version has been arranged by Akshay Raheja and Abhishek Singh, with choreography by Remo D’Souza. The vocals feature IP Singh, Jonita Gandhi, Asees Kaur, Sudhir Yaduvanshi and Anuradha Sriram.
Meanwhile, the film itself, directed by David Dhawan and backed by Ramesh Taurani of Tips Industries, has found itself entangled in a wider industry dispute involving allegations from producer Vashu Bhagnani over the reuse of songs without consent, turning what should have been a promotional beat drop into a fully-fledged controversy track.
As Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai gears up for its June 5 release, the bigger question looming over its soundtrack isn’t just whether the song works — but whether Bollywood will ever hit “new” instead of “replay.”
