Hera Pheri (2000)

Really Surprised!

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Raju (Akshay Kumar) is a tenant of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte a.k.a. Babu Bhaiyya (Paresh Rawal) and has not paid his rent for a long time. Raju does not believe in hard work and wants to earn easy money. He cons everybody, even his mother (Sulabha Arya), who thinks that her son works in Calcutta. Baburao, a bespectacled long-sighted man, runs the "Star Garage". He has a familial debt with many money-lenders and has hard time with them.Shyam a.k.a. Ghanshyam (Sunil Shetty) has come to Mumbai from Gurgaon seeking a job in his late father's bank. Apparently his father died in a fire that broke out in the bank and he claims that the bank owes him the job. He badly needs the money for his friend Khadak Singh's (Om Puri) sister's marriage. A young woman, Anuradha Panniker (Tabu), is also in the running for the job, her father having died two minutes after Shyam's. Shyam meets Raju and a misunderstanding causes Shyam to think that Raju is a pickpocket. A fight ensues between the two, and Raju escapes, leaving his wallet with Shyam. After Raju leaves, Shyam discovers that he had his own wallet on him all the time. Unfortunately, this realisation comes just as Raju returns with two policemen, insisting that Shyam has robbed him.Later that evening, Shyam reaches Star Garage. Baburao agrees to take him in as a paying boarder, although he warns Shyam that he will have to share the place with another boarder and will have to help with the household chores. Unfortunately for Shyam, the other boarder is Raju, who has not paid Baburao a single penny of rent in the last two years. The two men come to blows again the minute they see each other. Raju vociferously objects to Shyam's presence and threatens to move out. Baburao is nonplussed by Raju's indignation and calls his bluff. Eventually, Raju backs down, claiming that he's only staying because he owes Baburao and he hates to leave debts. The two men are constantly at each other's throats, and poor Baburao often ends up suffering the physical consequences of their conflict.

Shyam a.k.a. Ghanshyam (Sunil Shetty) has come to Mumbai from Gurgaon seeking a job in his late father's bank. Apparently his father died in a fire that broke out in the bank and he claims that the bank owes him the job. He badly needs the money for his friend Khadak Singh's (Om Puri) sister's marriage. A young woman, Anuradha Panniker (Tabu), is also in the running for the job, her father having died two minutes after Shyam's. Shyam meets Raju and a misunderstanding causes Shyam to think that Raju is a pickpocket. A fight ensues between the two, and Raju escapes, leaving his wallet with Shyam. After Raju leaves, Shyam discovers that he had his own wallet on him all the time. Unfortunately, this realisation comes just as Raju returns with two policemen, insisting that Shyam has robbed him.Later that evening, Shyam reaches Star Garage. Baburao agrees to take him in as a paying boarder, although he warns Shyam that he will have to share the place with another boarder and will have to help with the household chores. Unfortunately for Shyam, the other boarder is Raju, who has not paid Baburao a single penny of rent in the last two years. The two men come to blows again the minute they see each other. Raju vociferously objects to Shyam's presence and threatens to move out. Baburao is nonplussed by Raju's indignation and calls his bluff. Eventually, Raju backs down, claiming that he's only staying because he owes Baburao and he hates to leave debts. The two men are constantly at each other's throats, and poor Baburao often ends up suffering the physical consequences of their conflict.Raju manages to trick Shyam into signing a document that says he will give the bank position to Anuradha. When Shyam discovers the fraud, he threatens to sue both the bank and Anuradha. Panicked, the bank manager tries to get Anuradha to seduce Shyam, but he's having none of it. Eventually, she makes a deal to give him the position in exchange for money. Shyam is unable to get the money, and when he goes to bluff his way through the deal, he discovers that Anuradha is living with her mentally ill mother in abject poverty. She admits that she discovered that Shyam's own financial situation was as bad as her own, and that she didn't have the heart to go through with her plan, so she gives him her resignation letter. Shyam refuses, insisting that he could never live with himself if he accepted, and that she should keep the position. The two of them become friends and even begin a romance.Meanwhile, Khadak Singh shows up at the bank looking for Shyam, whom he believes to have stiffed him. The bank manager gives him Baburao's address. Raju is only too glad to put in a "good word" for Shyam with Khadak Singh, and it is only thanks to Baburao's intervention that Shyam escapes being throttled by Khadak Sing. Shyam, however gets even with Raju by shaking him down for gas money in front of his mother, threatening to reveal to her that he isn't really earning good money as he claims to be.Baburao is constantly getting called by people who want to speak to a Mr. Deviprasad (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), which annoys him no end. One day, however, things become serious when a kidnapper named Kabeera (Gulshan Grover) asks for Deviprasad. Only, this time, he's asking for a ransom to be paid for Deviprasad's granddaughter Rinku (Ann Alexia Anra of Avvai Shanmughi fame). The trio figures out that the phone numbers for Star Garage and Star Fisheries, of which Deviprasad is the owner, have been mistakenly transposed in the telephone directory.Now, Raju decides to benefit from this situation and has Shyam call Deviprasad posing as Kabira and demanding double the amount asked by Kabeera so that they can pocket the other half themselves while satisfying the ransom demand. However, when the rich man's employee realizes that Deviprasad's granddaughter might have been kidnapped, he involves the police. Angry that the police showed up at the exchange spot, Deviprasad threatens to shoot Inspector Prakash (Mukesh Khanna) with his own revolver, thereby allowing Raju, Shyam and Baburao to escape in the confusion. Kabeera's plans are thwarted, and as punishment for involving the police, he calls the trio again and doubles the ransom.Following their brush with Kabeera and the police, Shyam and Baburao inform Raju that they're out of it, but Raju eventually shames them back into helping him. They tell Deviprasad to meet them at the rendezvous point an hour before Kabeera's appointed time. When they meet with Deviprasad, he demands to see his granddaughter. Eventually, the trio are forced to admit that they are not actually the kidnappers, just three guys in over their heads, but that they will get hisactually Deviprasad's granddaughter pretending to be her kidnapper and saying, "Kabira speaking". The film ends with the trio breaking into uncontrollable laughter

The performance by Paresh Rawal is a good enough reason to watch Hera Pheri. It is a standout performance by one of the most talented actors in Bollywood. The other members of the cast also do a commendable job. Hera Pheri involves a heist when three men decide to earn a quick buck without realizing the consequences that might follow. Even though the film has a few plot holes and inconsistencies, the witty dialogs and comic timing of the actors make up for the deficiencies and makes this movie a memorable watch. The movie could have been shortened by removing some unnecessary songs. However, this movie belongs to Paresh Rawal. I cannot stress on the brilliance of his acting. Go and see the movie now.

There are times when the simplest stories touch your heart, or your funny bone in this case. Priyadarshan's Hera Pheri was amongst the smallest films of the year 2000. It did not have much going for it. The starcast was not huge and Priyadarshan was not as big as he is today. That's when the script comes into play – and that is where Hera Pheri scored and it didn't really need to score anywhere else.Hera Pheri tells the story of 3 common men with a common goal – to survive in this big bad world. All is fun and games until one night, they get a phone call…..As mentioned above, what makes this film so great is the simplicity. Also, the film does not have the best pot in the world but because we fall in love with the characters and their situations – we don't even notice the blemish. The best part of the movie is the chemistry between the trio of Akshay, Sunil and Paresh. These guys are the life of the film. You don't get bored of the movie either because there's usually something happening. Scenes to look out for:Akshay and Sunil's first meeting - Whenever Om Puri enters to look for Sunil - Tabu's entry when the trio are having a mildly violent but playful fight. - The crazy and hilarious climax. My favorite scene is when first phone call comes and Paresh picks up – Rib tickling!!!Flaws? Of course. The songs are a major drawback and come as speed bumps in the narrative. What is worse is that the songs are not even worth listening to. That is the major flaw I saw in the movie. The writing is just splendid and the major credit should go to the dialogue writer Neeraj Vora who has written some remarkable lines. The music is below average. I did love the locales and sets because they were simple but had an amazing feel to it when one sees the film. Priyadarshan has not been known for being technically brilliant but he gets the job done as a director. Even here, he's very good. Not the best but still, his direction is great. Hera Pheri was a turning point for Paresh Rawal. The man who used to play the baddie in the 90's changed his path after Hera Pheri. To say that Paresh is brilliant, to say that Paresh is hilarious, to even say that he's out of this world – all would be understatements to this man's work in this movie. It's best to just keep quiet and smile when asked about this act.Akshay Kumar is efficient and does his job well. Sunil also is in good form. Om Puri is a delight and Tabu does good. Overall – A colorful, entertaining and amusing delight is what I would call Hera Pheri. Watch it once, then again and again and again.4.5/5