Bollywood comedy ‘Phir Hera Pheri’ remains a fan favorite, but veteran actor Paresh Rawal recently shared his candid thoughts about the film’s shortcomings. Speaking to Siddharth Kannan, the actor admitted that while the sequel to ‘Hera Pheri’ was a hit, it didn’t live up to its full potential.
Rawal, who played the beloved Baburao Ganpatrao Apte in the franchise, felt the sequel lost the simplicity that made the original so special.
“Everybody was overconfident about the film. It lost its innocence,” he said. According to him, director Neeraj Vohra overloaded the movie with unnecessary sequences, which made it chaotic. “I told Neeraj, ‘You are overstuffing the film. People will laugh at anything, but that doesn’t mean we should go overboard.’”
Despite its flaws, people still love ‘Phir Hera Pheri’. However, Rawal believes a well-made sequel should take a meaningful leap forward, like ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’. “If you’re making a sequel just to cash in on a hit, it’s not fun,” he said, emphasizing that ‘Hera Pheri’ had the goodwill and potential to be much more than just a series of recycled jokes.
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For a long time, rumors suggested that Kartik Aaryan might replace Akshay Kumar as Raju in ‘Hera Pheri 3’, much like his entry into the ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ franchise. However, Rawal clarified that while Kartik was indeed a part of the film at one point, he was never going to play Raju.
“They had signed Kartik when the story was different. People assumed he would be Raju, but his role was completely different,” Rawal explained.
Akshay Kumar was always a part of the film, but later, the script changed, and Kartik dropped. With filmmaker Priyadarshan stepping in, the project took a new direction.
Now, fans of ‘Hera Pheri’ can rejoice—Rawal confirmed that the third installment will retain its original trio of Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and himself. The film is going to begin shooting in August or September, bringing back the legendary characters in a fresh story.
With the beloved Baburao, Raju, and Shyam reuniting, expectations are high for ‘Hera Pheri 3’. The question remains—will it recapture the magic of the original?