Total Dhamaal director Indra Kumar hits back at Lata Mangeshkar over 'Mungda' row

Yet another Bollywood film –Total Dhamaal, has started making headlines for all the wrong reasons even before its release, after its remake of the classic song ‘Mungda’ left a lot of veteran artists in the industry vexed.

The song featuring Sonakshi Sinha in the Indra Kumar directorial had upset its original singer Lata Mangeshkar who claimed that nobody had bothered asking for her consent before remaking it, and now the director of the film has hit back at the iconic singer saying there was no need for consent.

“We don’t have to take their consent. When 'Neend Churayi Meri' was remade (for Golmaal Again; the original song was from Kumar’s Ishq), no one came to me for approval. The rights belong to the music label, and they (owners of the label) have the right to do what they want to.”, he stated in response to Lata.

“There is no harm in following trends. This generation has been deprived of those beautiful songs. Our job is to pass on the gems to them. Today’s generation isn’t aware of it. My kids hadn’t heard the original till I made them listen to the new version, and they loved it,” he added further.

Earlier, Lata had expressed her displeasure at the song from the film saying: “Our songs were created after great deal of thought. No one seeks our consent before using our songs. Is that right?”

“Lack of originality and talent in music is an understatement”, she added further.