Shilpa Shetty’s Chura Ke Dil Mera remake sparks debate among fans; Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik react

Remaking old classics is a trend which refuses to die down. And the latest to join the list is Chura Ke Dil Mera, which featured in the 1994 Akshay Kumar-starrer Main Khiladi Tu Anari.

Filmed on Kumar and Shilpa Shetty Kundra, the song has been a favourite for decades, and it has now been recreated by the original composer himself, Anu Malik, for Hungama 2. Taking over the vocals are Benny Dayal and Malik’s daughter Anmol. Fans, however, are not too pleased with the new version.

Ever since the song dropped on Tuesday, social media has been abuzz, with people missing the original singers Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik.

“#ChuraKeDilMera is one of my fav 90s songs ..choreography, chemistry between #AkshayKumar #ShilpaShetty, Kumar Sanu n Alka Yagnik’s combo ..everything was iconic ..STOP ruining 90s classics ..nothing can bring the old charm back .. (sic),” wrote a Twitter user.

“They Couldn’t Match the 1% of the Original Song “Chura Ke Dil Mera” ….don’t spoil the old songs please..!…” wrote another user.

Many liked Kundra’s glamorous avatar, much like the original, but missed Kumar. Meezaan, son of actor Jaaved Jaffery, has stepped in his shoes.

We reach out to Sanu and Yagnik to know their take. The former tells us, “Mujhe naya wala sunke bauhaut achha laga, in the voice of new singers. I didn’t know it was being recreated for this film. It was earlier planned for some other production, but done for another one.”

Yagnik too says she did not know about this new version coming out. “But that is okay. It sounds cute, though very different from the original,” she adds.

People who have been in the music world for long are not too pleased with this trend meanwhile. Lyricist Sameer, who has seen a lot of his songs such as Ankhiyon Se Goli Maare and Dilbar be recreated, says, “The question is not to recreate, it is about not destroying the originality of the song. If you are doing something for the betterment, it is okay. Try not to disturb the basic structure though, Imagine, if there is a song Lata (Mangeshkar) ji has sung, and you take some new singer (for recreation), what are you doing? That way you are ruining the song.”

Singer Abhijeet adds that while he liked Anmol’s voice in the new version, he is not in favour of old songs being touched. “The original music director did the recreation, which is a good step. I won’t say this is a very good attempt, but gaali mile ya tareef, it is for the original composer. In this song, male voice dominates, and there has been a drastic change in that, I didn’t like it. Logon ke dimaag mein original baitha hua hai,” he asserts.

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