Akshay Kumar drops out of Hera Pheri, Welcome and Awara Pagal Deewana sequels: reports
Indian media has been abuzz for a few weeks, all thanks to Akshay Kumar and Firoz Nadiadwala because films Hera Pheri, Welcome and Awara Pagal Deewana were rumoured to be getting sequels. However, new reports claim Kumar has dropped out of the Hindi comedy films as talks between him and producer Nadiadwala have reportedly fizzled out. According to the media, Kumar was not convinced with the quality and vision for the sequels.
According to Pinkvilla, a source said, “Hera Pheri, Welcome, and Awara Pagal Deewana are three of the most loved franchises led by Akshay Kumar, and he was quite keen to revisit the iconic films. However, after several rounds of meetings, he has decided to take a step back, as he couldn’t align with the broad script ideas.”
They added, “Akshay Kumar is well aware of his fans’ expectations of him in these comedy franchises. He refused to compromise on the quality of these scripts, as attempts to remake these sequels without proper thought and with other actors have already failed in the past.”
The source also said that Kumar already has a busy calendar and is focused on picking future scripts carefully. “He might opt for a fresh, new comedy than ride on the popularity of past franchises with half-baked scripts,” they said.
The publication also reported that Kumar will be replaced with Kartik Aaryan in Hera Pheri sequel, who will be playing the much-loved character Raju.
A source told Pinkvilla, “The paperwork and handshake happened a day back with Firoz Nadiadwala’s office. Kartik Aaryan has signed the dotted lines to play the iconic role of Raju, played by Akshay Kumar in Hera Pheri and Phir Hera Pheri. Both Kartik Aaryan and Firoz Nadiadwala are keen to sign Anees Bazmee as the director, however, the filmmaker is yet to give a go-ahead from his end,” and confirmed that Paresh Rawal, who played Babu Rao, and Suneil Shetty, who played Shyam will reprise their roles. Bazmee also directed Aaryan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.
Hera Pheri 3 was officially in works in 2014 but came to a halt because Neeraj Vohra, also the director and writer of Phir Hera Pheri, fell ill. In that film, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan were reported to star in lead roles.
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