The third sequel of the blockbuster Hera Pheri series, starring actors Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar, and Paresh Rawal is soon to be released. It has taken more than fifteen years for the third Firoz Nadiadwala movie to begin production after the first two came out in 2000 and 2006, respectively. Recently, Suniel refuted earlier reports that Akshay was unhappy with the script and that locking him into the film was taking time.
In interaction with Sidharth Kanan, Suniel said, “No, I don’t think so and I don’t know about that part at all. I think there were no script discussions. It was probably the entire working that is important, and which the producer needed to be very clear about. It’s not Akshay who delayed the film by 16 years, Firoz bhai went through a lot in life and you wish him, I love the man it’s probably because of that. We actors have nothing to do with Hera Pheri 3 not happening.”
“Akshay and me always spoke about it, we always wanted it to happen. Whatever the reasons it wasn’t going through, Akshay’s character could never be replaced. No one else could do Raju. Kartik could have played another character, whose as important or may be the most important but Raju will always remain Raju. And finally whatever jugaad you try and do, only the principle characters work. Raju, Shyam, Babu bhai, Om Ji, he is no more but all these characters will stay relevant.”
Hera Pheri 3 was originally going to be directed by Indra Kumar, but Farhad Samji will take the reins instead. However, the crowd didn’t respond favourably to this.
A campaign asking for the director’s resignation was begun by many social media users. For Suniel, however, the key is having faith in his group. He averred, “I think everyone brings their efforts into the project. I have never worked with him (Farhad Samji) as a director but I know him as a very good writer and when the team believes that he is fine, you go with the team. “