Anu Malik thanks Dua Lipa for making Woh Ladki Jo ‘more popular than it already is’; but has a 'haath jodke request'

Anu Malik shared that people should know he composed Woh Ladki Jo and Abhijeet Bhattacharya sang it. He lauded Shah Rukh Khan, on whom the song was picturised.

Music composer Anu Malik, who originally composed the song Wo Ladki Jo for Baadshah, has reacted, days after singer Dua Lipa performed on the mashup of her song Levitating and the famous track. Speaking with News18, Anu called Dua "a very, very talented" singer. He also said that "credit is important and people should know that Woh Ladki Jo is an Anu Malik song and that Abhijeet Bhattacharya has sung it". (Also Read | Abhijeet Bhattacharya talks about Dua Lipa performing Levitating x Woh Ladki Jo: ‘I don't care who she is’)

Anu Malik spoke about Dua Lipa's Mumbai performance and his song Woh Ladki Jo.

Anu says due credit should be given

Anu also spoke about due credit, “We can only request them to give us the rightful credit. Aaj kal toh hum sirf haath jodke request karte hain (these days, we only request with folded hands). I’m not someone who creates controversies. We’re very proud Indians who’re happy that our song has reached a global stage...I’m grateful that my composed song is a rage and has gone viral from the film Badshah. But it must also be said that Shah Rukh Khan’s presence and popularity took my composed song to another level. I thank Dua Lipa for making this song more popular than it already is, and for recognising the immense talent of musicians from our great country, India, with me being one of them."

Anu talks about Wo Ladki Jo's rights

Talking about the source of the collaboration, the music composer added, “I want to know how they got the rights of the song from the company and if they mentioned mine and Abhijeet’s name or if they just took it off the rack. I don’t know the whole story. All I know is that people are celebrating the fact that my song was used by Dua Lipa so well. People are also loving the production. I love how my tune plays in the background."

All about original songs, mashup and Dua's performance

Woh Ladki Jo, from the 1999 film Badshah, was sung by singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya. The song was picturised on actors Shah Rukh Khan and Twinkle Khanna. Dua released Levitating in 2020. In 2023, DJ Ruchir Kulkarni created the mashup of the songs.

Recently, Dua spoke with the Times of India about the song and said, "I was blown away when I first heard the mashup of Woh Ladki Jo and Levitating. It was amazing!" Reacting to a fan's post about her performance, the singer wrote in the comments, “I HAD TO!!!! Tooo much fun!!”

What Wo Ladki Jo singer had said

Recently, Abhijeet spoke to News18 about Dua's performance. He had said, "Dua Lipa should’ve said it (given credit). She also creates songs. Anu Malik, Javed Akhtar and I created this song...To be very frank, I don’t care who is Dua Lipa. She can take my name or not but when she performed it on stage, I was flooded with all the calls. People heard it. She cannot even name anyone; pronunciation would be wrong."