Priyadarshan Made ‘Hera Pheri’ Full Of 'Depressing Scenes', Claims Producer Firoz Nadiadwala

The producer claims that Priyadarshan was absent during the post production stages of the 2000 film ‘Hera Pheri’, after the director had said that he did not return to the direct the sequel because he didn’t like working with the producers.

Outlook Web Bureau

Updated on: 14 August 2021 9:49 am

Producer Firoz A. Nadiadwala has hit back at Priyadarshan, after the director had said that the he did not return to direct the sequel to hit film ‘Hera Pheri’, because he did not like working with the producers. Nadiadwala revealed that the filmmaker made a “depressing” and a “four-hour long cut” of the 2000 film which starred actors Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Raval in pivotal roles.

“The film, which the audiences saw, was the director’s cut in the sense that the director was cut from the final version,” he said in an interview.

“He gave me a film with a runtime of three hours and 40 minutes. His version was full of depressing scenes; a lot of the humorous dialogues were deleted. He was absent during the background music recording and dubbing,” Nadiadwala said.

On the film’s 20^th anniversary recently filmmaker Priydarshan had explained why he did not return to direct the sequel, which made him a big name in the Hindi film industry.

“The experience of working on the first one was disappointing as they (producers) never believed in my film. He rather went and shot two songs without my knowledge, which I got to know when I saw the film, the songs were removed later. I decided not to work with those who do not believe in me. He did ask me if I will do the second part, I said, I am not interested. I feel the first part was born, the second one fell sick and the third part will die,” he had said in an interview.

Nadiadwala however said that he never said anything against the acclaimed director, since the move was “a blockbuster”, but he was left with no other option as the producer felt the filmmaker went against his father.

“He has left no opportunity to run down my father and me. How can he talk about turning down our offer to direct the second and upcoming third part, when he did not even complete the first film?” he said.

“...he abandoned the project midway. When he watched the final cut for the first time, it was completely different from what he had [given]. The film, which the audiences saw, was the director’s cut in the sense that the director was cut from the final version,” Nadiadwala added.