Mumbai: Actor Paresh Rawal says he is thrilled to return to two of his popular franchises — Hera Pheri and Welcome — and will soon start filming for the third installments of both film series.
The 68-year-old said making a new part for a fan-favourite franchise is a challenging task, something Rajkumar Hirani aced with his Munna Bhai series.
“We will start shooting for Welcome 3 in December and we will release it next year. Hera Pheri 3 will also happen soon. In a franchise film, if the story is not good, then it dies down quickly. It happened with Hungama 2.
“‘Hungama’ was a good franchise, but part two didn’t do well. When you have a popular character or film, then you should attempt something different. If you are making a franchise, then you should do something like the ‘Munna Bhai’ franchise. It’s a well-made film,” Rawal told PTI.
Directed by Priyadarshan, the first Hera Pheri movie was released in 2000. It also featured Suniel Shetty and Akshay Kumar. It revolved around a quirky, kind-hearted garage owner Baburao Ganpatrao Apte (Rawal), a cunning loafer Raju (Kumar) and a struggling pauper Shyam (Shetty). The trio returned with a sequel Phir Hera Pheri in 2006, which was directed by Neeraj Vora.
The first film in the Welcome franchise was released in 2007 and the second movie, Welcome Back came out in 2015. Both the installments were directed by Anees Bazmee. The third part, titled Welcome to the Jungle, will be directed by Ahmed Khan. Rawal’s latest release is Shastry Virudh Shastry, a story of a seven-year-old boy, caught in a web of emotions and torn between his parents and grandparents.
The cinema veteran said he found the plotline of the film novel yet relatable. “I’ve never heard a subject like this before in terms of a film. It is a strange custody battle. I liked the idea, ‘Will your love be decided by the judiciary?’ So that’s an interesting thing to look at.
“When a child is growing up, the father is busy making money and he is unable to give time and impart values but the grandparents come in there. Like, whatever they have lost out on the childhood of his own son, he wants to make up for it,” Rawal said.
The film, produced by Viacom18 Studios, was released earlier this month. Nandita Roy and Shiboprasad Mukherjee have directed the movie, which also features Mimi Chakraborty, Amruta Subhash, Manoj Joshi, Neena Kulkarni and Shiv Panditth.
PTI