Much anticipated, but seemingly jinxed — that’s Hera Pheri 3 for you. The comedy franchise’s third instalment, which was announced in January 2025, faced a fresh blow earlier this week when producer Firoz A Nadiadwallah announced that Priyadarshan would no longer helm the Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Paresh Rawal-starrer; something that was further confirmed by the director. So, what caused the filmmaker to exit a project that he was deeply invested in? Legal tangles and Nadiadwallah’s behaviour towards him, he said.
In an exclusive chat with mid-day, Priyadarshan revealed, “Firoz told Akshay, ‘You have the rights to make Hera Pheri 3, but never make it with Priyadarshan. That’s my only request.’ He has insulted me so many times — he told me that my cut of Hera Pheri [2000] looked like a poor man’s version, that he had to edit my five-hour movie. I initially agreed to do the third part with Akshay because I thought I could make one of this country’s biggest franchises. If I had directed it, I could’ve made it bigger than Dhurandhar. Akshay, Suniel, and Paresh requested me to make Hera Pheri 3. When I narrated the story to them, they were all excited.”
Firoz A Nadiadwallah and Priyadarshan
According to Priyadarshan, troubles began right in 2025. “When Hera Pheri 3 was announced, I got a call from Seven Arts Films’ GP Vijayakumar that if we ever do the film, it will be a violation. I didn’t know what to do. This is why I said that Hera Pheri 3 may never see the screens with the same characters. You will never see them again as it has too many legal issues. According to me, Hera Pheri [2000] was born, Hera Pheri 2 [2006] became sick, and Hera Pheri 3 will be dead,” said the director.
Earlier this year, South Indian producer Vijayakumar claimed that Nadiadwallah didn’t own the rights to the Hera Pheri franchise and questioned his transfer of third instalment’s rights to leading man Kumar. Vijayakumar further claimed that in 2022, he had bought the entire franchise’s rights from Adithya Films, the makers of the Malayalam original Ramjirao Speaking (1989), on which Hera Pheri was based. He also alleged that Nadiadwallah had only bought the Hindi remake rights of Ramjirao Speaking, and then flouted the contract by making the sequel. “It is a legally complicated battle of copyright,” stated Priyadarshan.
Jan 2025
When ‘Hera Pheri 3’ was officially announced
Paresh Rawal
In May 2025, Paresh Rawal had briefly exited ‘Hera Pheri 3’ only to return later. In the interim, producer and co-star Akshay Kumar sued him for R25 crore, while reports indicated that Rawal was apparently unhappy with the compensation and his character arc. Over a year later, Priyadarshan offered a different version of events. “At that time, Paresh Rawal got a legal notice from Firoz A Nadiadwallah saying that while Akshay has the third part’s rights, Nadiadwallah had not sold the three main characters, including that of Baburao [Rawal’s character]. Paresh panicked and wanted to take a legal opinion on it. Hence he left the film. Money was not an issue,” said the director. “Hera Pheri is one of my favorite films so whatever may be the outcome and whoever the producers are, let Hera Pheri live long, by entertaining the people who love it.”