Hera Pheri (2000 film)

Hera Pheri
Directed by	Priyadarshan
Produced by	A.G. Nadiadwala
Screenplay by	Neeraj Vora
Story by	Siddique-Lal
Starring	Sunil Shetty Akshay Kumar Paresh Rawal Tabu Bhairavi Vaidya
Music by	Songs: Anu Malik Background Score: Surinder Sodhi
Cinematography	Jeeva
Edited by	N. Gopalakrishnan
Release date	31 March 2000 (2000-03-31)
Running time	145 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹75 million (equivalent to ₹220 million or US$3.1 million in 2017)[1]
Box office	₹214 million (equivalent to ₹630 million or US$8.8 million in 2017)[1]

Hera Pheri (English: Chicanery) is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Priyadarshan starring Sunil Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Tabu.^[2] It is the remake of 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking which was an adaptation of the 1971 TV movie See The Man Run.^[3] The film spawned a sequel, Phir Hera Pheri, released in 2006.

Over the years it has become a cult classic.^[4] It was voted as the best Bollywood comedy film of all time in an online poll conducted by The Indian Express.^[5] Paresh Rawal won the best comedian award in Filmfare, IIFA and Star Screen Awards.

Plot

The plot revolves around an eccentric trio, consisting of a comically hilarious but kind hearted garage owner named Baburao Ganpatrao Apte (Paresh Rawal), a crafty and cunning loafer named Raju (Akshay Kumar) and a simple and struggling pauper named Shyam (Sunil Shetty) who find themselves trapped in crazy shenanigans including hilarious bits from Rawal himself.

The film begins with Shyam searching for a job at a bank which he find that is given to some girl named Anuradha Shivshankar Panikar (Tabu) even though Shyam's father died in the bank due to a fire. The manager (Asrani) tells Shyam that despite knowing the truth, he is unable to do anything further. Shyam walks off in a huff and accidentally bumps into Raju. Shyam mistakes Raju for a pickpocket and begins to chase him. Raju eventually gets away clean. Raju has his own troubles, dealing with his daydreams and unfriendly and disappointed people he is working for. He doesn't seem to keep a job alive and thus faces many problems.

Shyam then approaches a garage owner by the name of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, and manages to get a room on rent by compromising on the amount for Baburao's alcohol. Unknowingly for him Raju is staying in the same house on rent, which he hasn't paid for the last two years. The trio falls into hilarious situations that usually involve Raju instigating Shyam and purposefully trying to create a tandem that Baburao, fondly called as Babu Bhaiyya has to resolve. During one such fight, Anuradha intervenes and tries Shyam to sign the Non-Objection Certificate, so that she could have the job at the bank. When Shyam refuses, Raju makes a plot to make him sign the papers. Shyam eventually finds out that Raju made him sign the papers and that is when the rivalry between the two commences. An old friend of Shyam's, Khadak Singh (Om Puri) comes to Shyam's place asking to return his money so that he can marry off his sister and afford the dowry.

Shyam finds out that Raju has been deceiving his mother by posing as an engineer and creates an uncomfortable situation for Raju as he calls his mother fake while being inebriated. Raju retaliates, saying he just wants to see his dying mother happy and nothing else. Anuradha prepares a job resignation meanwhile and gives it to Shyam, who in return tears it up because of her mentally ailing mother and the debts to be paid to the debtors.

Their life takes an unexpected turn when they get a call from Kabeera (Gulshan Grover) which is a wrong number actually meant for the owner of Star fisheries, Mr. Devi Prasad (Kulbhushan Kharbanda). The wrong number is because of the misprint in the phone directory, which renders Star fisheries' number as Star garage's and vice versa. Kabeera, a terrorist cum kidnapper, tells who he thinks is Devi Prasad that his granddaughter is kidnapped and asks for ransom. Raju overhears the entire conversation going between Kabeera and Shyam and decides to play a game.

The game involves Shyam calling Devi Prasad posing as the kidnappers and asking for double the ransom amount. This will make their monetary problems disappear. Shyam and Baburao initially repel the idea and try to go the faithful way. But Raju in turn convinces them that even though wrong, this is a golden chance to earn money. Both relent and phone the real Devi Prasad and ask for double ransom. Their first attempt gets foiled, by the police and Kabeera informs them that the ransom has been doubled. They phone Devi Prasad again. This time they ask for a foolproof double ransom.

They reveal their true identities to Devi Prasad to win his confidence and try to save the girl from the kidnappers. But the girl recognizes Shyam as an imposter and Kabeera gets alerted. A huge fight involving the police, Kabeera's gang members and Khadak Singh's men, infuriated by the delay in the money return intervene the fight, takes place. The scenes are hilariously choreographed, especially those involving Baburao losing his spectacles and accdentally firing an AK-47 all over the floor. The girl is saved by the three and returned to Devi Prasad. Baburao and Shyam go home happily intending to find Raju with the money, but they find him missing. They call the police and Raju is found to be gone to return the money of the debtors.

In the end, Devi Prasad comes to the trio's rescue and convinces the police that it was all a misunderstanding and saves the three and they go home, richer than ever.

Cast

• Paresh Rawal as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte a.k.a. Babu bhaiya
• Suniel Shetty as Ganshyam a.k.a. Shyam
• Akshay Kumar as Raju
• Tabu as Anuradha Shivshankar Panikar
• Gulshan Grover as Kabira
• Razak Khan as Kabira's Gang Member
• Dinesh Hingoo as Chaman Jhinga
• Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Devi Prasad
• Om Puri as Khadak Singh
• Asrani as Bank Manager
• Kashmira Shah as Kabira's Gang Member
• Namrata Shirodkar as Miss Chinga, Special Appearance in a song
• Mukesh Khanna as Prakash, Police Commissioner
• Sulabha Arya as Raju's Mother
• Ann Alexia Anra (Baby Anne) as Rinku
• Snehal Dabi as Man misjudging Asrani as a "Dalaal" at bus stop.
• Mushtaq Khan as Devi Prasad's Servant
• Bhairavi Vaidya as Tabu's Mom
• Kahkashan Patel in a special appearance in song "Jab Bhi Koi Haseena

Production

Hera Pheri was the first film that Priyadarshan had worked with Sunil Shetty and Akshay Kumar. He had worked with Paresh Rawal in Doli Saja Ke Rakhna. It also marked the beginning of a long association between Priyadarshan and the three actors.

Following Hera Pheri, Priyadarshan has made sure that either Kumar, Shetty, Rawal or a combination of the three actors would star in his films. The only exceptions are Dhol, Billu and Tezz.

Parts of the film were shot in Dubai, and Hera Pheri 3 will also be shot there.^[6]

Soundtrack

All lyrics written by Sameer; all music composed by Anu Malik with the exception of the song "Tun Tunak Tun", which was composed by Lalit Sen and Bally Sagoo.^[7].

Reception

The film did not open well upon release, but picked up later and became a box office success,^[8] grossing Rs. 17,25,00,000 in India.^[9] Much of the acclaim went to Paresh Rawal for his comic timing and acting, with critics calling it "one of his best performances ever". Aparajita Saha of Rediff stated "the movie belongs entirely to Paresh Rawal. Whatever laughter the film solicits is solely due to him. He has impeccable timing and a natural flair for comedy. Sunil Shetty's role and his performance is also too good."^[10] Alok Kumar of Planet Bollywood praised the movie saying "Priyadarshan's Hera Pheri is a delight to watch for its performances, some songs, and an interesting story line".^[11]

It has achieved a cult status among Indian audiences^[12] and is regarded as one of the best Hindi comedy films ever made.^[8]

Awards and Nominations

References

External links

• Hera Pheri on IMDb
• Hera Pheri at AllMovie