Puja Entertainment (India) Ltd has initiated legal proceedings in the Bombay High Court seeking Rs 400 crore in damages from Tips Industries Limited, Ramesh Taurani, Kumar S Taurani, and filmmaker David Dhawan.
The suit concerns the alleged unauthorised use and exploitation of iconic songs from Vashu Bhagnani’s cult blockbuster ‘Biwi No.1’ in Varun Dhawan’s upcoming film ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’.
The case was filed by V K Dubey Associates, who is requesting urgent injunctive relief to prevent the release, distribution, exhibition, streaming, and further commercial use of the film and its promotional materials that feature the disputed songs, including “Chunnari Chunnari” and “Ishq Sona Hai”.
Advocate V K Dubey said, “We have filed a suit with a claim of Rs. 400 crores to the Tips Music Company. The legal battle has been increasing for many days, and the rights of the musicians were not ready to be settled.”
He added, “Earlier, the rights of movies were based on agreements. Today, the music companies buy the songs from the big producers or the lyricists who make the songs or create the songs. During that time, the agreements that were made with Tips allowed only audio rights in the agreements. In 2018, Tips had emailed us and asked for visual rights. Vashu Bhagnani had replied to them, but their conversation did not settle.”
Dubey further explained that Puja Entertainment served a notice cancelling the rights previously granted to Tips, including audio permissions. “If they are the lawful owners of the music rights, they must show their documents. This is why we have filed a claim against Tips. Justice will prevail, and the truth will come out,” he said.
According to a press release, Puja Entertainment has also requested the removal of the songs “Chunnari Chunnari” and “Ishq Sona Hai” from the film and all promotional material. The company is seeking a change of the film’s title, “Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai”.
The production house has demanded an additional Rs 100 crore in damages if Tips Industries Limited and David Dhawan do not comply with these demands and continue to exploit the disputed works.
Puja Entertainment alleges that the defendants have unlawfully exploited valuable intellectual property rights without authority, assignment, or licence to commercially use the original audio-visual works. The production house contends that the alleged infringement undermines the proprietary and commercial rights vested in the original cinematographic works associated with the late 1990s blockbuster.