Hera Pheri 3 in legal trouble as Madras HC Questions producer’s authority: 'Is Firoz Nadiadwala is even authorised to make the film?'

Hera Pheri 3 in legal trouble?

• Madras High Court questions Firoz Nadiadwala's rights to make Hera Pheri 3
• Seven Arts claims ownership of Hera Pheri franchise, disputes Nadiadwala's rights
• Cape of Good Films bought rights believing Nadiadwala was legitimate owner

Did our AI summary help?

In a surprising twist, the future of Hera Pheri 3 now hangs in the balance, as the Madras High Court has questioned whether producer Firoz Nadiadwala is even authorised to make the film.

The drama comes after Seven Arts International claimed that it, not Nadiadwala, owns the rights to the much-loved Hera Pheri franchise.

As reported by Bar and Bench on Thursday, Seven Arts International Limited filed a petition stating that Firoz Nadiadwala was only ever allowed to make one Hindi remake of the Malayalam classic Ramji Rao Speaking (1989).

This remake, directed by Priyadarshan, became the 2000 hit Hera Pheri. Yet, Nadiadwala went on to produce the sequel, Phir Hera Pheri (2006), and later sold the rights for the third instalment to actor Akshay Kumar’s production house, Cape of Good Films.

GP Vijayakumar, Managing Director of Seven Arts International, spoke to HT City about the matter: “I bought the entire rights for the Hera Pheri franchise from the original producers of Ramji Rao Speaking, Adithya Films in 2022. They informed me that Firoz Nadiadwala had been given the right to make one Hindi version of the film. But he made a second version which released in 2006. He is not authorised to make a sequel or prequel, or use the characters.”

Also Read: Paresh Rawal reveals Hera Pheri 3 is delayed due to issue between Akshay Kumar and the makers, says, "nothing to do with me"

Asked why action wasn’t taken sooner, GP Vijayakumar explained candidly, “While the first film was directed by Priyadarshan who we are close to, the second film was directed by Neeraj Vora, and the copyright holders at the time didn’t realise what happened. The original producers and I realised much later that Nadiadwala has done a violation and cheating. At the time we thought jo ho gaya, ho gaya. We will produce the next version in Hindi. We approached actor Akshay Kumar for the same and that’s when we got to know that Nadiadwala has sold the rights to Akshay’s production house Cape of Good Films. We sent Nadiadwala a legal notice on how he could sell something he did not own. I had no option but to move the Court.”

A spokesperson for Cape of Good Films clarified that they had purchased the rights believing Nadiadwala was the legitimate owner.