Akshay Kumar has sued his Hera Pheri co-actor Paresh Rawal claiming Rs 25 crore in damages for exiting the third part of the franchise after signing a legal contract and starting shoot for the film, states a report.
Akshay is also the producer of Hera Pheri 3 through his production house Cape of Good Films after he bought the rights of it from producer Feroz Nadiadwala.
Recently, Paresh had confirmed on X that he has exited Hera Pheri 3 and it was not because of creative differences with the film’s director Priyadarshan.
As per a report in Hindustan Times, a source close to the legal developments of the case told the publication, “Paresh displayed a blatant disregard for professional integrity or commercial morality. If he wanted to not do the film, he should have said so before signing the legal contract, accepting the signing amount and making the producer spend so much money on the shoot.”
They added, “It is high time Bollywood actors realise that like Hollywood, producers here too will no longer give in to the whims of an actor walking in and out of a film as he pleases. Paresh himself announced doing the film on his X handle in January, he participated in all pre production planning, shot for a day (including the teaser promo) willingly. When he never expressed dissatisfaction at any point, for him to now suddenly play with the emotions of the fans of this franchise and inflict losses on the producer is clearly in bad faith."
Another report in India Today states that the reason Paresh exited from Hera Pheri 3 was because he demanded Rs 25 crore for his role in the film. This apparently irked Akshay who refused to give in to the demand, leading to the former walking out from the film. Paresh, however, said in an interview with Mid-Day, that the remuneration was not the reason and he exited the film because he "didn't feel like a part of it." "No amount of money compares to the love and respect of my audience. Right now, I just felt that it is a role I don’t want to do, that’s all,” he told the publication.
Akshay and Paresh have also worked on the Priyadarshan directorial Bhooth Bangla, the shooting for which was recently wrapped.
Hera Pheri is a comedy franchise which started in 2000. The original film was directed by Priyadarshan. The film’s writer, the late Neeraj Vohra, took up directorial duties for the 2006 sequel Phir Hera Pheri. Both films have become fan-favourites over the years.