Mimtaz
After the massive popularity of ‘Hera Pheri’ & ‘Phir Hera Pheri’, ‘Hera Pheri 3’ is surely one of the most awaited sequels.
Akshay Kumar as Raju, Paresh Rawal as Babu Rao, and Suniel Shetty as Shyam have been ruling everyone’s hearts for two decades.
However, in 2015, producer Firoz Nadiadwala started shooting for ‘Hera Pheri 3’ with Paresh Rawal, John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, and Neha Sharma in the lead. But due to some financial problems, the project got shelved in its shooting stage.
While fans are eager to watch the iconic trio Akshay-Paresh-Suniel back on screen, the makers have reportedly later tried to bring the original trio back in the ‘Hera Pheri’ franchise.
According to Bollywood Hungama, producer Firoz talked to Akshay about the sequel. Akshay agreed to the sequel but had two conditions.
“Producer Firoz Nadiadwala spoke to Akshay Kumar for Hera Pheri 3. Akshay decided to come on board but he had two conditions. One, he wanted Dream Girl (2019) director Raaj Shaandilyaa to direct the film. He felt that Raaj knew how to handle a masala comic caper and that this was evident with his first film. Secondly, Akshay asked for 70% profit sharing,” a source revealed.
However, Firoz supposedly didn’t agree with Akshay’s second condition. After that Raaj also reportedly ‘humbly refused’ the offer as he knew that Hera Pheri was an iconic franchise and thought that he wouldn’t be able to do justice to it.
Admitting the offer, Raaj later revealed, “Yes I was approached for Hera Pheri 3. But the dates were clashing with my next directorial venture and there were few other reasons. Hence, I couldn’t do it.”
Meanwhile, 2 years back, the project was again revived and the veteran filmmaker Indra Kumar was supposed to direct the movie. But the idea didn’t materialize.
‘Hera Pheri’, which wasn’t a big commercial success in cinemas, was directed by Priyadarshan. The sequel was directed by Neeraj Vora, who also was one of the writers of the original. ‘Hera Pheri 3’ was initially supposed to be directed by Neeraj. He, however, suffered a stroke in 2016 and passed away in 2017.
According to a trade source, “If Hera Pheri 3 is indeed made with the original cast and released on say Diwali or Eid, it can easily fetch an opening of Rs. 40 crores plus, or even Rs. 50 crore plus! but it needs an able director. Raaj would have been a good choice. We hope it gets made someday.”
