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New day, new controversy. After making 45 movies, veteran filmmaker David Dhawan is returning with his 46th directorial titled Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai. The comedy movie marks David’s fourth collaboration with his son Varun Dhawan after Main Tera Hero, Judwaa 2 and Coolie No. 1.

Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai takes its title from the Biwi No. 1 chartbuster song “Ishq Sona Hai” and also stars Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde. The first teaser of the film was dropped on Monday, and it got massive backlash from netizens.

It all started with a cringeworthy AI-generated clip of two babies talking about their respective parents. Creepy AI toddlers then realise they have two different mothers but the same father. Cut to Varun Dhawan’s ultra-photoshopped dance, and then enter the female protagonists, Pooja Hegde and Mrunal Thakur, who are seen romancing Varun Dhawan.

The movie is cut, copied, and pasted from two cult classic Bollywood films,

The teaser is quite reminiscent of David Dhawan’s 1996 super hit Saajan Chale Sasural starring Govinda, Karisma Kapoor and Tabu, and Anees Bazmee’s 2006 cult comedy Sandwich starring Govinda, Raveena Tandon and Mahima Chaudhary.

In Saajan Chale Sasural, Govinda has two wives, and in Sandwich as well, he has two wives and a son from both marriages. However, they are identical.

The teaser was not appreciated by movie-goers, who slammed the makers for blatantly copying Govinda’s films and also for the unnecessary use of AI.

Reacting to the teaser, one social media user wrote, “So we started using whole scenes made by AI in movies”.

Another user reacted, “Half the video is AI—two children talking, what’s wrong with Bollywood”.
A third user commented, “Are you serious… 2026 me tum ye bana rahe ho. Varun needs to grow up… Ye cringe fest band karo yaar”.

If this wasn’t enough, Varun Dhawan is involved in an online feud with influencer Simran Bhat. She posted a reel and accused the actor that his team forced her to review the first look of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai.

In her video, she also revealed what happened and how two people approached her at a metro station, insisting she review the teaser even though she hadn’t watched it. Varun has now responded to her claims.

In a viral video, the influencer alleges she was approached by two individuals at the Rajiv Chowk metro station to review Varun’s film teaser. She said they pressured her to give a review without even watching it.

She was heard saying, “Two people stopped us and said a Varun Dhawan film teaser had been released. Can you please review it? I told them I hadn’t watched it yet. The guy said, it’s okay, we’ll tell you what to say. I questioned how it could be a review if they tell us what to say. The girl tried to reason that it’s because I hadn’t watched it yet. But if you want a genuine review, take it from those who have watched it.”

Varun then commented under her reel, writing, “Hope you get the views you really want with this video (claps emoji).” Simran replied, saying, “@varundvn Sir, with due respect, I don’t need to do these kinds of things for views. I am already satisfied with my numbers…” while also reiterating the same on her Instagram Stories.

Sharing screenshots, she added, “Secondly, if I needed attention, I should have posted it on my feed, but it was a trial reel. And this actually happened with us. Also, you should definitely check with your PR team because this is affecting your image.”

Talking about a deleted comment from Varun, she also shared another screenshot and said, “First of all ma’am, you have convinced yourself that someone who came and asked you was sent by me for views.” Posting it, she wrote, “Woh sab toh theek hai lekin aapne comment delete kyu kiya?”

The actor didn’t stop here and replied to her, but later deleted the comment. However, in the meantime, Simran shared a screengrab of the comment on her social media handle, asking why he deleted the message. In the image, we can see the comment reads, “First of all ma’am u have convinced urself that someone who has come and asked u has asked u because I sent them to u all this for views.”

Meanwhile, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai is directed by David Dhawan and also features Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde in lead roles. The movie is now slated for release on May 22 and will clash with Ananya Panday and Lakshya’s Chand Mera Dil.