For months, it was rumoured that Kartik Aaryan was going to fill Akshay Kumar’s shoes in Hera Pheri 3.
The dust on the rumours of Kartik Aaryan replacing Akshay Kumar in Hera Pheri 3 is still settling down. The third film in the installment starring Akshay, Suniel Shetty, and Paresh Rawal has been in the headlines for months now. It drew massive attention when it was rumoured that Kartik was replacing Akshay as Raju after the latter decided to step down. However, much back and forth later, it was eventually revealed that the OG trio is reuniting.
Although the team of Hera Pheri 3 is yet to issue an official statement about Kartik’s talks for the movie, Suniel has now said that Kartik was never meant to take over Akshay’s role. He added that while Kartik cannot replace Akshay in the franchise.
“I have always said that Kartik Aaryan was never taking over Akshay’s role in the film. Kartik is the new kid on the block who is extraordinary, but he cannot replace Akshay Kumar. Raju will always remain Raju, and the audience won’t accept a replacement for him. It (Kartik’s) was a new character, and now who’s playing that part or what happens to that character… I am clueless about it,” he told the Bombay Times.
“Akki wanted to (be a part of the franchise). Whatever transpired between the producer and him, Akki knows, but whenever I had spoken to Akki in the past, I had always told him that this film should be our top priority. He had also agreed saying, ‘Yes, this is a film we should work on,’” he added.
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Hera Pheri 3 also ropes in Farhad Samji as the director. The previous movie was helmed by Anees Bazmee whereas the franchise was started by Priyadarshan. Speaking about the change in director now, Suniel said, “Today, there is more than one director associated with this film and I say that because the actors are as involved in the project (as the director). None of us are going to make a fool of ourselves with this film. After all, we don’t want the legendary Hera Pheri to be impacted by any mistakes we make in the future. Even if it’s not as good but is remotely close to the original, and we can make a sensible film, we are happy. All I can say for now is that Farhad has done a brilliant job with the writing of the film. We should start rolling mostly in the second half of the year.”
The team of Hera Pheri 3 came together last month to shoot an announcement video for the movie. Pictures of the trio reuniting went viral on social media.
