Mumbai: Actor-producer Akshay Kumar slapped a Rs 25 crore legal notice on veteran actor Paresh Rawal for unprofessionalism.
Akshay, through his production house, Cape of Good Films, has sent a legal notice to Paresh for exiting ‘Hera Pheri 3’ film after signing a legal contract with the filmmakers and starting shoot for the film. “Paresh displayed a blatant disregard for professional integrity or commercial morality. If he wanted to not do the film, he should have said so before signing the legal contract, accepting the signing amount and making the producer spend so much money on the shoot,” a source was quoted as saying by HT.
“Paresh himself announced doing the film on his X handle in January, he participated in all pre production planning, shot for a day (including the teaser promo) willingly. When he never expressed dissatisfaction at any point, for him to now suddenly play with the emotions of the fans of this franchise and inflict losses on the producer is clearly in bad faith,” added the source.
“It is high time Bollywood actors realise that like Hollywood, producers here too will no longer give in to the whims of an actor walking in and out of a film as he pleases,” the source concluded.
Actor Suniel Shetty, on the other hand, expressed shock and disbelief over Paresh’s sudden exit.
When asked about Paresh’s decision to quit ‘Hera Pheri 3’, Suniel said, “This is absolutely shocking. I first thought about texting him, and then I thought I’d meet him and would discuss it. I have had no word about it with anybody. Even Akshay is clueless as to what happened.”
He added, “This is a crisis. We are in the middle of this film, and this is the biggest shock. We were going to begin shooting next year. We had already started, in fact. We shot a promo. It’s a big thing. This is so shocking. I can’t make sense of this. And you know who sent it? Athiya and Ahaan – they both sent it to me within 15 minutes, asking ‘papa what is this?’. And I was here doing my interviews, and I felt like ‘holy s***’.”
Last week, Paresh had confirmed through media that he is exiting the third instalment of the blockbuster comedy franchise.
When the actor was approached by Bollywood Hungama, he confirmed the development by saying, “Yes, it’s a fact.”
Read more: ‘No Paresh Rawal, No Hera Pheri 3’: Fans React As Actor Steps Down From Comedy Film
The veteran then took to his X handle to clarify that neither creative differences nor money was the reason behind his decision.
I wish to put it on record that my decision to step away from Hera Pheri 3 was not due to creative differences. I REITERATE THAT THERE ARE NO CREATIVE DISAGREEMENT WITH THE FILM MAKER . I hold immense love, respect, and faith in Mr. Priyadarshan the film director.
— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) May 18, 2025
While the reason behind his decision is still unclear, reports suggest that Paresh just didn’t ‘feel like’ being a part of the film and walked out of it.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that Paresh has walked out of a film after signing it.
Earlier in 2023, he had refused to do ‘Oh My God 2’ because he did not like the script.
In 2009, he had walked out of Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Billu Barber’ after committing to it.
