Hera Pheri (2000 film)

The film begins with Shyam (Suniel Shetty) a guy searching for a job at a bank. He was unable to get the job in spite of his late father who worked there accidentally bumps into a guy named Raju (Akshay Kumar). Shyam mistakes Raju for a pickpocket and begins to chase him. However he discovers the truth and vice versa occurs with Raju chasing Shyam mistaking him for pickpocket. Raju has his own troubles, dealing with his daydreams and unfriendly people he is working for. He is unable to keep a job 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. Unbeknownst to him, Raju is staying in the same house on rent, which he hasn't paid for the last two years. The trio fall into hilarious situations that usually involve Raju instigating Shyam and purposefully trying to create a ruckus that Baburao, fondly called as Babu Bhaiyya, has to resolve. During one such fight, a girl named Anuradha (Tabu) arrives and tries to persuade Shyam to sign the Non-Objection Certificate, so that she could have the job at the bank. When Shyam refuses, Raju hatches 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, Khadak Singh (Om Puri), comes to his place asking to return his money so that he can marry off his sister.

Shyam finds out that Raju has been deceiving his mother by posing as an engineer. 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 poor conditions of her home. Later he confronts Raju who reveals that he wants to see his mother happy.

Their life takes an unexpected turn when they get a call from Kabira (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, thinking that it is Devi Prasad, tells him that his granddaughter Rinku is kidnapped and asks for a 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, which will solve their monetary problems. Shyam and Baburao initially repel the idea and try to do what is moral. 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. On their first attempt they wear helmets as a disguise but their attempt gets foiled by the police (called secretly by Devi Prasad's servant (Mushtaq Khan). Kabeera later informs them that the ransom has been doubled. They phone Devi Prasad again and ask for a foolproof double ransom.

On their second attempt, they wear Zorro costumes to hide their identities. However, they reveal their true identities to Devi Prasad to win his confidence and try to save Rinku from the kidnappers. But she 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 returning the money, takes place. Rinku 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 think he has cheated them and call the police to confess the crime. But Raju returns and reveals that he had gone only to return the money of the debtors. The police arrive and seeing the money, the trio is arrested.

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. The film ends with the trio picking up the call getting shocked and then laugh heartily as it was a prank call from Devi Prasad's granddaughter Rinku.

• Akshay Kumar as Rajveer “Raju” Shrivastav
• Suniel Shetty as Ghanshyam Bhatia a.k.a. Shyam
• Paresh Rawal as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte (Babu Bhaiya)
• Tabu as Anuradha Shivshankar Panikar
• Gulshan Grover as Kabira
• Razak Khan as Chota Chetan, 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 Jhinga, Chaman Jhinga's daughter, special Appearance in song "Tun Tunak Tun"
• Mukesh Khanna as Police Commissioner Prakash
• Sulabha Arya as Raju's mother
• Ann Alexia Anra (Baby Anne) as Rinku
• Snehal Dabi as Man misjudging Asrani as a "Dalaal" (pimp) at bus stop.
• Mushtaq Khan as Devi Prasad's Servant
• Bhairavi Vaidya as Anuradha's Mom
• Kahkashan Patel in a special appearance in song "Jab Bhi Koi Haseena"
• Rajeev Mehta as Laundry Business Owner

Hera Pheri was the first time that Priyadarshan worked with Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty. 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, Tezz and Rangrezz. Parts of the film were shot in Dubai, and Hera Pheri 3 will also be shot there.[7]

The film did not open well upon release, but picked up later and became a box office success,[9] grossing Rs. 24,25,00,000 in India.[10] 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."[11] 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".[12]

It has achieved a cult status among Indian audiences[13] and is regarded as one of the best Hindi comedy films ever made.[9] The dialogues, "Rakh! Rakh teri maa ki rakh!" and "Khopdi tod saale ka" said by Baburao Apte (Paresh Rawal) became widely famous and is used popularly in Indian memes.

Phir Hera Pheri, the sequel, was released in 2006. Alongside the main trio, Bipasha Basu and Rimi Sen join the cast. The sequel was also successful as well.

• Hera Pheri at IMDb
• Hera Pheri at Rotten Tomatoes
• Hera Pheri at AllMovie