Paresh Rawal not keen on doing Hera Pheri 3, says, 'Apart from money, there will be no joy for me'

Hera Pheri is one cult comedy from Bollywood the fandom over which refuses to die down. While the memes keep the film relevant on social media even today, it has been over 15 years since fans have been waiting for Hera Pheri 3 to arrive.

Die-hard fans many want nothing more than to see the cast led by Paresh Rawal , Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty to reunite but looks like at this point in time the project is nowhere close to being made. In a recent interview, actor Paresh Rawal has stated clearly that even though the franchise enjoys a vast popularity, he is not keen on returning to play Baburao Ganpatrao Apte.

The Sharmaji Namkeen actor has told Times of India in an interview that if a third film is made in the Hera Pheri franchise he’d only return if the script places the characters in a different backdrop than what we have already seen before.

“If you ask me honestly, there is no excitement left in me for any of my characters unless it is put in a different backdrop. We have an ideal example of a sequel and it is of 'Munna Bhai MBBS' and 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai'. This is how a sequel should be," he said.

Paresh further added that while he has no excitement remaining to go back and play the same character again, if he decides to join the sequel, he would charge a bomb. “If I have to do the same thing again, usi prakar ki dhoti pehenke, chashme lagake chalna hai... except for money, of course, I will charge a bomb! So apart from money, there will be no joy for me. So the story has to be good. If we are coming up with a sequel of 'Hera Pheri' after so many years, with the same old ghisa-pita jokes, it will not work. It should evolve and only then I will be excited about it. Otherwise, wahi chabaya hua niwala firse chabana hai, it will not give that excitement to me,” he added.

The third instalment of the Hera Pheri had been announced and shelved a few times in these many years since Phir Hera Pheri released in 2006. While Paresh and Akshay Kumar had initially declined to be a part of the project, and John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan were brought in to replace them, in 2019 director Inder Kumar had announced that he’d be directing the film with the original cast.

There have been no updates on the project since which has again assumed to have been shelved.

The first Hera Pheri film directed by Priyadarshan released in cinemas in 2000 and was a blockbuster which was followed by Phir Hera Pheri six years later which was much bigger that the original in terms of its success.