Underplayed Gems

Hera Pheri (2000)

Hera Pheri poster
Directed by
Priyadarshan
Genre
comedy film
Country
India
Runtime
2h 25m
Rated
U
Rating
7.1 of 10 from 313 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

Two broke tenants and their cranky landlord overhear a ransom call and decide to get the money for themselves. Their plan goes wrong in many funny ways.

comedicchaoticlightheartedfast-pacedquirkyfarceplayfulsilly

What happens

Hera Pheri (transl. Foul Play) is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Priyadarshan and originally written by Siddique-Lal and adapted screenplay by Neeraj Vora, starring Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Tabu, Om Puri, Asrani, and Gulshan Grover. The film is a remake of 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking which itself was inspired by the 1971 American TV film See The Man Run. It is the first instalment of the Hera Pheri franchise. The plot revolves around two tenants, Raju and Shyam, and their landlord, Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, who are in desperate need of money. They chance upon a ransom call through a cross-connection and hatch a plan to claim the ransom for themselves. The film was released on 31 March 2000. It opened to mixed reviews, some of whom applauded the performances of Kumar and Rawal particularly. The film is considered Kumar's foray into the comedy genre. However, the film achieved commercial success, grossing ₹57.4 crore at the box office against a budget of ₹7.5 crore. It spawned a sequel, Phir Hera Pheri, released in 2006. Over the years, the film has evolved into a cult classic, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian comedy films ever made. The film is noted for its authenticity and depiction of the economic problems of lower middle class families in India, situational comedy, dialogues, performances of the lead trio Kumar, Rawal and Shetty. It was voted the best Bollywood comedy film of all time in an online poll conducted by The Indian Express in 2014. It was remade in Telugu as Dhanalakshmi, I Love You in 2002 by Siva Nageswara Rao. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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