Akshay Kumar’s Hera Pheri 3 Caught In Legal Battle, Producer Says Nadiadwala Doesn’t Own Rights

Just when fans were getting excited about the return of Raju, Shyam and Baburao, Hera Pheri 3 has landed in unexpected legal trouble. A producer from the South has moved the Madras High Court, questioning whether the much-talked-about sequel can even be made, after claiming that the rights to the franchise do not belong to Firoz Nadiadwala.

According to a report by Bar and Bench, Seven Arts International Limited has approached the Madras High Court, arguing that Nadiadwala was authorised to make only one Hindi remake of the Malayalam cult classic Ramji Rao Speaking (1989). That remake was released as Hera Pheri in 2000, directed by Priyadarshan. The production house claims that the producer exceeded his rights by making Phir Hera Pheri in 2006

and later selling the rights for a third film.

The issue has now snowballed into a full-fledged legal dispute, with the court reportedly questioning whether Hera Pheri 3 is legally viable under the current circumstances.

Speaking exclusively to HTCity, GP Vijayakumar, Managing Director of Seven Arts International, detailed how the matter unfolded. “I bought the entire rights for the Hera Pheri franchise from the original producers of Ramji Rao Speaking, Adithya Films in 2022. They informed me that Firoz Nadiadwala had been given the right to make one Hindi version of the film. But he made a second version which released in 2006. He is not authorised to make a sequel or prequel, or use the characters.”

When asked why the issue was not raised earlier, Vijayakumar explained that the situation came to light much later. “While the first film was directed by Priyadarshan who we are close to, the second film was directed by Neeraj Vora, and the copyright holders at the time didn’t realise what happened. The original producers and I realised much later that Nadiadwala has done a violation and cheating. At the time we thought jo ho gaya, ho gaya. We will produce the next version in Hindi. We approached actor Akshay Kumar for the same and that’s when we got to know that Nadiadwala has sold the rights to Akshay’s production house Cape of Good Films. We sent Nadiadwala a legal notice on how he could sell something he did not own. I had no option but to move the Court.”

Akshay Kumar’s production house, Cape of Good Films, told HTCity that they purchased the rights from Nadiadwala believing that he was the legitimate owner of the franchise.

Repeated attempts to reach Firoz Nadiadwala for a response remained unsuccessful. Meanwhile, filmmaker Priyadarshan, who is expected to direct Hera Pheri 3, reacted briefly when contacted, saying, “No idea”.