Veteran Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal replied on Sunday to the lawsuit that his "Hera Pheri" co-star Akshay Kumar had filed, after he suddenly quit the highly awaited third part of the franchise.
Rawal's abrupt decision to exit the project shocked both the film fraternity and fans who have been waiting for the third installment for almost two decades now. Akshay Kumar, who is also a producer of "Hera Pheri 3," has approached the court against Rawal, filing a damages suit of Rs 25 crore.
In a post on X, Rawal finally spoke out about the issue, sharing that his lawyer has officially replied to the suit.
"My lawyer Ameet Naik has issued a proper reply over my rightful removal and departure. After reading my reply all issues will be put to rest," wrote the 69-year-old actor. Rawal is best known for playing Baburao Ganpatrao Apte in the franchise.
"Hera Pheri 3" was scheduled to reunite Rawal, Kumar, and Suniel Shetty, with director Priyadarshan, who directed the original 2000 film, coming back on board.
A legal representative from Akshay Kumar's production outfit Cape of Good Films, however, issued a threat of "severe legal consequences" after Rawal left.
I believe there will be serious legal repercussions. It's obviously damaged the franchise. We have written to him informing him that there are a lot of legal implications," Pooja Tidke, Joint Managing Partner of Parinam Law Associates, representing Kumar's flag, said to PTI.
Tidke added that heavy expenditure on the cast, crew, logistics, equipment, and trailer shooting has already been made.
She further stated that Rawal had announced his inclusion on social networking sites earlier in January, contracts were finalized, and even three and a half minutes of the movie had been filmed.
Out of nowhere, a couple of days ago, we got a notice from Paresh ji stating that he is no longer part of the film and does not want to be part of the film. So it's caught everybody by shock and surprise of course," she added.
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