Hera Pheri 4, the third part of Hera Pheri, starring Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Paresh Rawal, is arguably the most awaited film for several moviegoers. Hence, it has been constantly in the news, for both right as well as wrong reasons. There was a lot of fanfare and excitement when the picture from the announcement promo shoot went viral. But the very next day, social media was riddled with criticism as it came to light that Farhad Samji will be directing the comic caper. The anger grew after his web series, Pop Kaun, dropped on Disney+ Hotstar. Many felt it was poorly made and written and feared the worst for their much-awaited film. Hence, ‘Remove Farhad Samji From Hera Pheri’ began trending on Twitter.
And now it has come to light that Hera Pheri 4’s makers are having second thoughts about having Farhad Samji on board. A source told Bollywood Hungama, “There’s too much negativity surrounding Farhad Samji. We have never seen such hate for a director in our lives. There have been Twitter trends to remove him and the makers feel it’s not completely unjustified.”
Farhad also wrote and directed Salman Khan’s latest release, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. The film hasn’t met with a unanimously positive response though the weekend collections have turned out to be respectable. But doubts have been raised about whether he’ll be able to do justice to a film that people are dying to watch. Moreover, Pop Kaun was slammed by one and all while his last directorial, Bachchhan Paandey (2022), also wasn’t appreciated. The distributors and studios who want to tie up with Hera Pheri 4 have also made their apprehensions clear about Farhad.
No decision has been taken but yes, the makers are contemplating whether or not to have Farhad Samji on board. A decision will be taken in a few weeks.
Some industry bigwigs pass a comment that Farhad Samji as a director, in my opinion, is fine. He knows how to handle scale and grandeur. And there aren’t many directors who can do so in today’s times. He just needs to come up with a better script and dialogues. If that is taken care of, he can do a fine job with Hera Pheri 4.”
Reacting the news to news in circulation on him, Farhad Samji reacted “Firstly, when the film has not even been officially announced, toh kaun hai yeh log?” He further said, “We try our best. If anyone has any problem, then we’ll try to rectify it by making better movies and by writing better punches. Our intention is to appeal to audiences of all kinds and provide them with a film that has a combination of romance, masala, action, comedy etc. God has been very kind right from my writing days, and it continues as I turned director. Housefull 4 (2019) is the biggest hit of Akshay Kumar. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022; which he co-wrote) is such a huge success if we take into account the ROI. Ab iske aage kya bolne ka?”
