Producer Firoz Nadiadwala, who last made Welcome Back, had more or less finalised Ahmed Khan as the director of the third part of his franchise Hera Pheri. Ahmed’s last directorial film was Baaghi 2.
While Hera Pheri was directed by Priyadarshan, the sequel Phir Hera Pheri was directed by the writer of the first part, Neeraj Vora, who was to direct the third part as well. His demise, however, left no choice to the filmmakers but to hunt for a replacement.
Ahmed Khan
On the actors’ part, the third edition was supposed to star Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham, along with Nana Patekar. But with the producer’s keen interest of retaining the same old team, the film will have the vintage cast of Suneil Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal in this part too.
“With Baaghi 2 grossing over Rs 120 crore at the box office, Ahmed has now become an expensive director. Unless Firoz pays him a substantial amount, he will have to work with someone who can also handle Akshay, Suneil and Paresh, while still doing justice to the film,” says a source. Firoz is expected to do a formal announcement with all the cast and credits in May.
