A post on Twitter by actor Paresh Rawal yesterday morning (25th May) suggests that the controversy around his walkout from Hera Pheri 3 is not going to end any time soon. The actor, who played Baburao Ganpatrao Apte in Hera Pheri and Hera Pheri 2, tweeted yesterday, “My lawyer, Ameet Naik, has sent an appropriate response regarding my rightful termination and exit. Once they read my response, all issues will be laid to rest.” Rawal was referring to the controversy surrounding his exit from the project a few days back.
For Rawal to make the claim that “all issues will be laid to rest” would require him to be on solid legal footing. Paresh Rawal is not a novice. And Ameet Naik is a big name in media litigation.
Perhaps, Akshay Kumar acted in haste in sending Paresh Rawal a legal notice for damages. Once a person claims damages in court, he cannot ask for specific performance of contract. That is to say, having claimed Rs. 25 crore in court from Paresh Rawal for walking out of the film, Akshay Kumar, the producer, has closed the doors for Paresh Rawal to once again become a part of the cast of Hera Pheri 3. Unless, of course, the two parties settle the matter out of court. Frankly, Rs. 25 crore is a big amount considering the facts of the case, spelt out below, and also considering that shooting of the film hasn’t yet begun.
If inside reports are to be believed, there was no final agreement between Akshay Kumar’s company and actor Paresh Rawal. Even the script is not yet final. And the promo was shot hurriedly, an insider claimed. It is believed that there’s nothing concrete available in Rawal’s hand — neither the final script nor the final agreement. Not many know that there is another angle to the story. Firoz Nadiadwala, the original holder of the franchise rights by virtue of being the producer of Hera Pheri (and Hera Pheri 2 too), has reportedly not yet given a nod to Akshay Kumar for the derivative rights. This would mean that Nadiadwala is contesting the rights of Akshay Kumar to produce Hera Pheri 3 without him (Nadiadwala). It is learnt from reliable sources that Firoz Nadiadwala has raised a red flag about the third film in the series not only with Akshay Kumar but also with director Priyadarshan, and actors Paresh Rawal and Sunil Shetty. This fight over the derivative rights could also have been playing on Paresh Rawal’s mind — besides the fact that the script is not ready and other matters are still not final — to have prompted him to take the extreme step of walking out of the project.
Of course, as far as Akshay Kumar is concerned, the producer in him must’ve not liked the senior actor walking out of the film without assigning specific reasons — that too, after shooting for the promo. That definitely borders on unprofessionalism.
For the sake of the franchise, one hopes, the warring parties bury the hatchet and join forces to make the third film in the franchise bigger and better than the first two.
Interestingly, it must be mentioned here that while almost everyone feels that the first film was outstanding whereas the second part was not up to the mark, the box-office performance of Hera Pheri was poor whereas Hera Pheri 2 proved a hit at the turnstiles.
