Gippy Grewal says Dharma didn’t inform him before using his vocals for Nach Punjaban: ‘Don’t know what competition they had…’
Singer Gippy Grewal explained the messy controversy surrounding his song Nach Punjaban, which featured in the film JugJugg Jeeyo. The singer revealed that he didn’t even know that his vocals had been used for the film, and found out only months later. He also revealed the constant confusion around the song and the copyright issues that Dharma Productions eventually faced.
Gippy said that he was asked to sing Nach Punjaban, so he recorded it and sent it across. “Nobody called me for three months. So I assumed that nobody liked my vocals and they didn’t use it. After seeing the poster for the film, he asked music composer Tanishk Bagchi if his vocals had been used, and Tanishk said ‘No, it was Dharma’s call’.” Gippy said that he accepted it and wished them luck. “The next day, the trailer came out and I didn’t watch it because I thought that my song hadn’t featured in it, so I wasn’t interested. My brother called then and said, ‘You sang well, you didn’t tell me?'”
Feeling rather confused, Gippy watched the trailer and realised that the song was almost the essence of the video. He added that as it must have taken so much effort to cut the song and treat the vocals, he wondered how no one told him about it. He messaged Tanishk requesting them to not use his vocals, as he didn’t feel like singing the song. “They had obviously used it, and they called me and tried to explain. Their entire promotion was based on the song, nobody said who sang it. I don’t know what competition they had.” Nach Punjaaban was used heavily in the promotions for the film as well.
He felt even more nettled later, after singer Abrar Ul Haq, who sang the original track, tweeted that he had not sold his track to Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. His tweet had read ,”I have not sold my song “ Nach Punjaban” to any Indian movie and reserve the rights to go to court to claim damages. Producers like @karanjohar should not use copy songs. This is my 6th song being copied which will not be allowed at all. @DharmaMovies @karanjohar.”
Gippy continued, “I was stuck. I realised this is Abrar’s song, and they’ve taken his rights—and I’ve grown up listening to him, and I respect him a lot. And I had not signed any agreement, and I got a nice call from Azeemji in Dharma Productions so I signed, and I explained that it’s not about the money, and to please not do this. I don’t understand these things…”
Juggjugg Jeeyo, starring Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani, Anil Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor released in June and emerged as a fair box office success.