‘Hawa Hawa’: The iconic Sanjay Dutt entry song for which Dhurandhar makers paid $50,000 to a Pakistani singer

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“This wasn’t the case earlier. But now, I get paid for all my songs. There was no copyright system earlier,” said Jahangir in an interview with a Pakistani portal. The only exception he made was the Pakistani reality show, Pakistan Idol, because it’s the country’s pride. The singer also recalled how warmly he was welcomed in India when he visited after the release of “Hawa Hawa”, which became as popular in the neighbouring nation.

“I didn’t know people there are so crazy for music. When I landed at the Mumbai airport, I got to know the customs officer were on the duty to escort me. There were so many big actors there to receive me. There were no smartphones then, but I got so many visiting cards from everyone,” said Jahangir.

‘Hawa Hawa’ origins

“Hawa Hawa”, written, composed, and sung by Jahangir, has been inspired by “Havar Havar”, a 1970s Persian song created by Iranian rock legend Kourosh Yaghmaei. While “Hawar Hawar” translates to “Shout Shout,” Jahangir turned it into “Hawa Hawa” in Urdu, which translates to “Wind, wind”. Yaghmaei was best known for fusing Persian lyrics with Western psychedelic rock music.

“Havar Havar” was a part of Yaghmaei’s 1973 debut album Gol-e-Yakh. While the titular hit was a bigger hit in Iran and around the world back them, “Havar Havar” turned out to be a global rage only after Jahangir turned it into “Hawa Hawa”. The track sold over 15 million cassettes in India alone, a massive landmark for pre-digital music era.

Bollywood’s obsession with ‘Hawa Hawa’

“Hawa Hawa” has been invoked numerous times in Hindi films over the years. While sometimes, official permission has been sought from Jahangir, at other times, its lyrics have been changed to suit the commercial Hindi palate while retaining the music that has an instant recall value. It took only a couple of years after the release of “Hawa Hawa” for its tune to get imitated across the border.

The first such instance was “Jawan Jawan Ishq Jawan” in Sisir Misra’s Billoo Badshah (1989). The club song was featured on Govinda, who also lent his vocals to the track. While it was an unofficial rehashing of the song, Govinda was one of the actors who warmly welcomed Jahangir at the Mumbai airport when he visited India.

Another unofficial adaptation was “Aaya Aaya Pyar Aaya”, repurposed by Bappi Lahiri, in David Dhawan’s 1989 action film Aag Ka Gola, which was featured on Sunny Deol, Archana Puran Singh, and Prem Chopra, which the director and Archana even discussed on the season 4 finale of The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix India last Saturday.

“Hawa Hawa” was used largely as it is as “Hawa Hawa Ye Hawa” in Latif Khan’s 1994 action film Insaaf Apne Lahoo Se. While Sanjay Dutt was a part of the star cast, the song wasn’t featured on him. In Dhurandhar, it’s used as his entry song also because the film is set largely in Pakistan, where he plays a corrupt police officer.

The first time the rights to “Hawa Hawa” was officially secured by Indian filmmakers was with Hriday Shetty’s 2012 crime comedy Chaalis Chauraasi. That film used both the original track and a remixed version, sung by Neeraj Shridhar. The video featured the lead cast — Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Kishan, Kay Kay Menon, and Atul Kulkarni.

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The most recent reiteration of “Hawa Hawa” was in Anees Bazmee’s 2017 romantic comedy Mubarakan. With additional music by Gaurav Roshin, vocals by Mika Singh and Prakriti Kakkar, and additional lyrics by Kumaar, the song just retains the hook line while the rest of the song has entirely new lyrics. It’s filmed on Arjun Kapoor and Ileana D’Cruz.

Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge, mostly set in Pakistan like its first part, is co-produced by Aditya and Lokesh Dhar’s B62 Studios and Jyoti Deshpande-led Jio Studios. Ranveer, Sanjay, Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Sara Arjun, and Rakesh Bedi will reprise their roles from the first part. The sequel is all set to release in cinemas this Thursday on March 19 in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, on the occasion of Eid, Ugadi, and Gudi Padwa.