Hera Pheri (film series)

Hera Pheri (transl. Monkey Business) is a series of Indian comedy films. The first film is directed by Priyadarshan and produced by A.G. Nadiadwala,[1] , the second one was directed by Neeraj Vora while third will be directed by Priyadarshan[2] and produced by Firoz Nadiadwala.[3] The series were the remake of the Malayalam films Ramji Rao Speaking and Mannar Mathai Speaking. The series starrs Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal in lead roles. The third instalment of the series is due for release. After initial hiccups, all the three lead stars of the franchise will be reprising their roles. But recently Akshay Kumar confirmed that the third part of the movie is not coming on the silver screen due to some screenplay problems.

Hera Pheri series
Directed by	Priyadarshan (Hera Pheri & Hera Pheri 3) Neeraj Vora (Phir Hera Pheri
Produced by	A.G. Nadiadwala (Hera Pheri) Feroz A. Nadiadwala (Phir Hera Pheri, Hera Pheri 3)
Written by	Neeraj Vora (Phir Hera Pheri)
Screenplay by	Anand Vardhan (Hera Pheri) Neeraj Vora (Phir Hera Pheri)
Story by	Neeraj Vora
Starring	Akshay Kumar Paresh Rawal Sunil Shetty Tabu (Hera Pheri) Rimi Sen Bipasha Basu Rajpal Yadav (Phir Hera Pheri)
Music by	Anu Malik (Hera Pheri) Himesh Reshammiya (Phir Hera Pheri)
Cinematography	Jeeva (Hera Pheri) Velraj (Phir Hera Pheri)
Edited by	N. Gopalakrishnan (Hera Pheri) Diwakar P. Bhonsle, Virendra Gharse (Phir Hera Pheri)
Production company	A.G. Films (Hera Pheri) Base Industries Group (Phir Hera Pheri, Hera Pheri 3)
Distributed by	A.G. Films (Hera Pheri) Base Industries Group (Phir Hera Pheri, Hera Pheri 3)
Release date	1: 31 March 2000 (2000-03-31) 2: 9 June 2006 (2006-06-09)
Running time	296 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹25.5 crore
Box office	₹90.52 crore

This series is now the twenty-ninth Highest-grossing film series in Bollywood and has developed a cult following in the years since its release. However there is still not any confirmation that when the shoot of the movie will start. Most of the information is still to be confirmed. Even upcoming projects of Akshay Kumar don't include Hera Pheri 3 so it's uncertaint as when the movie will actually release.

Films

Phir Hera Pheri (2006)

Main article: Phir Hera Pheri

Hera Pheri ended with the trio of Raju (Akshay Kumar), Shyam (Sunil Shetty), and Babu Bhaiya (Paresh Rawal) rich and rolling in money. Phir Hera Pheri tells the story of what happens after they become rich.

The film opens with a prologue bringing the audience up to date, stating that each has suffered a personal loss despite their new riches. Shyam lost his love, Anuradha (Tabu), in an automobile accident, Raju's mother died after battling a disease, and Baburao – having nothing to lose in the first place – lost the little traces of common sense that he did possess.

The three men are living a king's life in a massive bungalow and splurging on various luxuries. Raju hears about an idea for doubling his wealth from a con woman, Anuradha (Bipasha Basu), who is claiming to be a bank manager, and she convinces Shyam and Baburao to go along with it. Raju first arranges for ₹30 lakh from Shyam and Baburao and then a further ₹50 lakh by selling their bungalow. He convinces a small-time goon, Pappu (Rajpal Yadav) to contribute the remaining balance of ₹20 lakh so that he can come up with the minimum deposit of ₹1 crore, which Anuradha has promised to double.

The trio invest the money and 21 days later realise that it was all a scam and that they are now penniless. To make matters worse, they do not even have possession of their bungalow, which Raju had sold off in order to arrange the last bit of money needed, and have to live in a chawl (tenement). Pappu shows up to the bungalow the next day to pick up his portion of the money, but is shocked to learn that Raju has left and the bungalow is now in possession of a gun collector (Dinesh Hingoo). Pappu is now in trouble because he had borrowed money from a lisping but dreaded gangster, Tiwari (Sharat Saxena), who will kill him if he doesn't pay up. He comes across Raju one day, and upon hearing of the scam pretends to be sympathetic. He tricks him and brings the three to his boss, telling him that they are the ones who took the money. Tiwari threatens them and tells them they have to come up with the money or else they will die. As they are being taken home by some of Tiwari's goons, the three manage to escape. Raju, Shyam and Baburao are about to leave the city when Raju remembers that he owes money to a woman named Anjali (Rimi Sen). The three head over to her house and are surprised to find that she is Pappu's sister. Tiwari's goons show up and kidnap Anjali because Pappu has not returned the money. Feeling guilty that he is the one who got Anjali in trouble, Raju decides that he will go to Tiwari and try to get her freed. Shyam and Baburao refuse to leave without them and decide to stay as well. The three go back to Tiwari to ask him to release Anjali, and Tiwari tells them to bring the money, releasing Anjali.

Raju, Shyam and Baburao now have three days to come up with ₹40 lakh to pay back the goon or else they will themselves be killed. Raju overhears the neighbor, Munna Bhai (Johnny Lever), plotting to steal drugs from another gangster, Nanji Bhai (Milind Gunaji), and wrongly assumes they are talking about stealing money. Raju hatches a plan for the three of them to steal from Munna Bhai. The three manage to barely succeed, but are confused when they do not find money inside. Raju recognizes the stuff as drugs and tells them that they are worth at least ₹3 crore (thirty million). They think that if they can sell them to Kachara Seth (Manoj Joshi) and pay off Tiwari, they can also become rich, but their neighbor once again steals the drugs from them. They then run into Anuradha and she tells them that the entire scam was hatched by Kabeera (the gangster from the first Hera Pheri) to get revenge on the trio, and that the only reason she went along with it was because they were holding her niece hostage (Anuradha's sister was Kabeera's gang member and part of the first movie's kidnapping plot). Their money was converted to diamonds to pay the ransom, but she fled with them once she discovered her niece had escaped and hid them under a decoration of a circus float.

In the end, all the guys end up in a circus show where they attempt to get hold of the diamonds. These are strewn all over the ground in public by a gorilla. Raju escapes with Pappu's cellphone and three antique guns with him, which are worth ₹5–6 crore, though he does not know about it. Pappu informs Shyam and Baburao about the guns, after which they try to call Raju on his cellphone. The film ends in a cliffhanger where Raju is about to throw the guns in the river with his cellphone ringing in his pocket.

Hera Pheri 3 (2021)

As the second film ended with a cliffhanger it was obvious that a third film will happen. The production was delayed for a long time due to some issues and at a point of time the project got shelved.

In 2017, Neeraj Vora came on board to direct the film and the shooting was about to begin. When the film came in production after a long time, Rawal and Kumar elected not to reprise their roles as Baburao and Raju, respectively, and were replaced by John Abraham, Nana Patekar and Abhishek Bachchan. Vora suffered a massive stroke and was in a coma and later died, throwing the film's future in doubt.[4]

In May 2018 it was confirmed that Indra Kumar will direct Hera Pheri 3 and Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal will reprise their roles from previous films as Raju, Shyam and Baburao respectively[5].

But as of January 2019, the film will go on floors by the year of 2020 and will release in 2021. The film will continue the story from the previous two films[6].

On 28 February 2019 Indra Kumar the director gave an update on Hera Pheri 3. He revealed that the film will be high on VFX in his own words "I’m happy that the favourite trio is coming back together. We start the film towards the end of this year. It’s currently being scripted. I was completely cut off from that project for the last three months because I was busy with Total Dhamaal.[7]

In April, it was reported that Indra Kumar has left the project and now Priyadarshan (director of the first movie) has came back and he will direct the movie with the 3 main leads and it will release in 2021.

Cast and characters

Character	Film
	Hera Pheri (2000)	Phir Hera Pheri (2006)	Hera Pheri 3 (TBA)
Rajveer Shrivastav (Raju)	Akshay Kumar
Ghanshyam "Shyam" Bhatia	Sunil Shetty
Baburao Ganpatrao Apte (Babu Bhaiya)	Paresh Rawal
Anuradha Shivshankar Panikar	Tabu	Tabu (archived footage)	Tabu
Raju's Mother	Sulabha Arya	Sulabha Arya (archived footage)
Kabeera	Gulshan Grover	Gulshan Grover (archived footage)
Devi Prasad	Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Khadak Singh	Om Puri
Bank Manager	Asrani
Police Commissioner Prakash	Mukesh Khanna
Chaman Jhinga / Parsi Man	Dinesh Hingoo
Kabira's Gang Member	Razak Khan
Anuradha		Bipasha Basu
Anjali		Rimi Sen	TBA
Pappu		Rajpal Yadav	Rajpal Yadav
Kachra Seth		Manoj Joshi	Manoj Joshi
Munna Bhai		Johnny Lever	Johnny Lever
Munna Bhai's sidekicks		Sunil Pal Kiku Sharda
Tiwari		Sharat Saxena	Sharat Saxena
Tiwari's sidekick		Ravi Kishan
Peter		Suresh Menon
Raju Khabri			Abhishek Bachchan

Crew

Occupation	Film
	Hera Pheri (2000)	Phir Hera Pheri (2006)	Hera Pheri 3 (TBA)
Director	Priyadarshan	Neeraj Vora	Priyadarshan
Producer(s)	A.G. Nadiadwala	Feroz A. Nadiadwala	TBA
Writer(s)	Neeraj Vora		Priyadarshan
Story by	Neeraj Vora
Screenplay by	Anand Vardhan	Neeraj Vora	Priyadarshan
Music Director(s)	Anu Malik	Himesh Reshammiya	Anu Malik
Cinematographer	Jeeva	Velraj	TBA
Editor(s)	N. Gopalakrishnan	Diwakar P. Bhonsle Virendra Gharse	Priyadarshan

Release and revenue

Film	Release date	Budget	Box office revenue
Hera Pheri	31 March 2000	₹7.5 crore	₹21.4 crore[8]
Phir Hera Pheri	9 June 2006	₹18 crore	₹69.12 crore[9]
Total		₹25.5 crore	₹90.52 crore

References

1. Jain, Mimmy (3 April 2000). "Three for a laugh". Express India. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
2. "Priyadarshan not directing Hera Pheri 3". Bollywood Hungama. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
3. "In pictures: 'Hera Pheri 3' star cast unveiled" (Mid.day.com). Mid Day. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
4. "Actor Neeraj Vora in coma for last 10 months, finally shows signs of recovery". 29 August 2017.
5. "Hera Pheri 3 confirmed, to reunite Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal". The Indian Express. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
6. "Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal's Delayed Hera Pheri 3 to Go on Floors by the End of 2019: Report".
7. "Total Dhamaal director Indra Kumar gives an update on Hera Pheri 3; reveals it'll be high on VFX". Times Now News. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
8. "Hera Pheri – Movie – Box Office India". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
9. "Phir Hera Pheri". Retrieved 17 September 2017.

Sources

• Confirmed: Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Suniel Shetty to reunite for Hera Pheri 3