Hera Pheri (2000 film)

Hera Pheri
Directed by	Priyadarshan
Produced by	A.G. Nadiadwala
Screenplay by	Neeraj Vora
Story by	Siddique-Lal
Starring	Akshay Kumar Sunil Shetty Paresh Rawal Tabu
Music by	Anu Malik Bally Sagoo
Cinematography	Jeeva
Editing by	N. Gopalakrishnan
Release date(s)	31 March 2000 (2000-03-31)
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	Rs. 17,25,00,000

Hera Pheri (Hindi: हेरा फेरी, English: Monkey Business) is a 2000 Hindi comedy film directed by Priyadarshan starring Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Sunil Shetty and Tabu. The story of the film is based on the 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking, which was also remade into Tamil as Arangetra Velai in the same year. The film spawned a sequel, Phir Hera Pheri, released in 2006. Hera Pheri 4 will succeed Phir Hera Pheri, and is in pre-production.

Over the years the film has become a cult classic. It is now widely regarded as one of bollywood's best ever comedy movie's. It also has a strong liking with the Aam janta (common people), on IMDB.com the film has received an public rating average of 8/10 from around 4000 voters. Also Paresh Rawal's performance is considered his best ever in a comic role, one for which he swept up all the major comedian awards that year including the Filmfare, IIFA and Star Screen Award's.

Plot

Raju (Akshay Kumar) is a tenant of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte alias Babu Bhaiyya (Paresh Rawal) and has not paid his rent to Baburao since a long time. Raju does not believe in hard work and wants to earn easy money. He cons everybody, even his mother (Sulabha Arya), who thinks that her son works in Calcutta. Baburao, a bespectacled near-sighted man, runs a garage called "Star Garage", he has a familial debt with many money-lenders, and has hard time with his moneylenders.

Shyam aka Ghanshyam (Sunil Shetty) has come to Mumbai from Gurgaon seeking a job in his late father's bank. Apparently his father died in a fire that broke out in the bank and he claims that the bank owes him the job. He badly needs the money for his friend Khadak Singh's (Om Puri) sister's marriage. A young woman, Anuradha Panniker (Tabu), is also in the running after the job. Shyam meets Raju and a misunderstanding causes Shyam to think that Raju is a pickpocket. A fight ensues between the two.

Later that evening, Shyam reaches "Star Garage". Baburao agrees to take him in as a paying boarder, although he warns Shyam that he will have to share the place with another boarder. Unfortunately for Shyam the other guy is Raju, who has not paid Baburao a single penny of rent in the last two years. The two men come to blows again the minute they see each other. Shyam is duped by Raju into signing some papers which gives Shyam's job to Anuradha, but when Shyam learns that Anuradha's family is in a real bad shape, he lets her keep the job. Later the trio start getting along with each other. Raju and Anuradha are now friends and like each other.

Baburao is constantly getting a wrong number phone call addressed to one Mr. Devi Prasad (Kulbhushan Kharbanda). One day, however, things become serious when a kidnapper named Kabira (Gulshan Grover) asks for Devi Prasad. Then the trio realise that Devi Prasad is founder of "Star Fisheries", and that Devi Prasad's and Baburao's numbers are interchanged in the telephone directory. Kabira asks for ransom in lieu of Devi Prasad's granddaughter.

Now, Raju decides to benefit from this situation and makes Shyam call Devi Prasad posing as Kabira and demand double the amount asked by Kabira. However, when one employee realises that Devi Prasad's granddaughter might have been kidnapped, he involves the police. Both Raju and Kabira's plans are thwarted and Kabira doubles up the ransom money.

Finally, the trio decide to save the girl irrespective of the consequences. They call Devi Prasad to the location told by Kabira one hour before the time told by Kabira. They explain him that only they can save the girl now. In a hilarious melee that follows between Khadak Singh and his men, Kabira and his cronies, police and the trio, our heroes save the girl and return her to her grandfather. Raju collects all the money, while Shyam and Baburao head towards their home.

When they find that Raju is not at home, they think that he may have fled with the money. Enraged, they call the police and concoct a story to implicate all 3 of them in the kidnapping. When they get off the phone, a jubilant Raju comes waving a suitcase on their faces. He explains the dumbfounded duo that he had to spend some money on repairing the car and also returned debt to Khadak Singh, and sent him on his way to Punjab. When he learns what the duo did, he breaks down and tells them that in this world, all he really cares for is his mother, who will now know her son's state.

As the trio surrenders to police, Devi Prasad comes and bails them out before Raju's mother can come to know what's happening. He thanks the trio for what they did and gives the money to them as gratitude. Suddenly, the phone rings again and the trio realise that it may be for Devi Prasad. But Devi Prasad tells them that this time the phone is for them. They pick up the phone and suddenly become tense. Then it is shown that the caller is Devi Prasad's granddaughter saying "Kabira Speaking". The film ends with the trio breaking into uncontrollable laughter.

Cast

• Akshay Kumar as Raju
• Paresh Rawal as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte aka Babu bhaiya
• Sunil Shetty as Ghanshyam (Shyam)
• Tabu as Anuradha Shivshankar Panikar
• Gulshan Grover as Kabira
• Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Devi Prasad
• Om Puri as Khadak Singh
• Asrani as Bank Manager
• Razak Khan as Kabira's Gang Member
• Kashmira Shah as Kabira's Gang Member
• Dinesh Hingoo as Chaman Jhinga
• Namrata Shirodkar as Miss Jhinga (Special Appearance) in Song
• Mukesh Khanna as Police Commissioner Prakash
• Sulabha Arya as Raju's Mother
• Snehal Dabi as Man at Bus Stop
• Mushtaq Khan as Devi Prasad's Servant
• Kahkashan in a special appearance in song "Jab Bhi Koi Haseena"

Production

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

In films 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 and Billu.

Music

The music of the film is composed by Anu Malik while the lyrics are penned by Sameer.

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Picturized on	Length
1.	"Jab Bhi Koi Haseena"	K.K., Krishna Kumar	Akshay Kumar	06:40
2.	"Denewala Jab Bhi"	Abhijeet, Vinod Rathod, Hariharan	Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal	06:50
3.	"Tun Tunak Tun"	Richa Sharma	Akshay Kumar, Namrata Shirodkar (Special appearance)	07:06
4.	"Main Ladka"	Abhijeet, Kavita Krishnamurthy	Suniel Shetty, Tabu	06:12
5.	"Humba Leela"	Abhijeet, Vinod Rathod, Hariharan	Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Tabu	04:26
6.	"Mujhe Se Milti Hai"	Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik	Akshay Kumar	06:00

Reception

Hera Pheri did not open well upon release, but picked up later and became a box office success, grossing Rs. 17,25,00,000 in India. 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." 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".

Awards

• Akshay Kumar won the best supporting actor award at the Bollywood Movie Awards for his performance.
• Paresh Rawal won the Filmfare Best Comedian Award for his performance, as well as the Star Screen Award and IIFA Award in the same category.

External links

• Hera Pheri at the Internet Movie Database