Hera Pheri 3 to take off in the UAE

Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal will head to the UAE to shoot the third instalment of cult comedy Hera Pheri

Hera Pheri 3 cast and crew John Abraham, director Neeraj Vora, Paresh Rawal, Suniel Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan and producer Firoz Nadiadwala

Scenic landscapes, great infrastructure and just two and a half hours away from Mumbai; is there any wonder that Bollywood can never get enough of Dubai? This time the sizzling couple of Dostana, Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham, are all set to pack their bags and make a temporary base in our region to start shooting for Firoz Nadiadwala’s Hera Pheri 3.

After eight years Firoz is back with the third film in his comedy franchise Hera Pheri. The announcement was made at the 60-year anniversary celebration of Nadiadwala films in Mumbai on Tuesday. The film titled Hera Pheri 3 will be directed by Neeraj Vora.

Dostana boys Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham will headline the project, in addition to Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal, who will continue from the original trio. Abhishek and John were last seen together eight years ago in Karan Johar’s Dostana.

The evening proved to be a testosterone filled one with only the male cast in place. As Abhishek pointed out: “No actresses so far. It is just us. John and I are very good at playing Queens, we are multi-talented. We have taken so long to be cast together after Dostana; the only reason is because we do not need any heroines. We have tremendous chemistry, it is so good that there is no need of other actors, and that is why no female is yet finalised for the film.”

Both John and Abhishek go by the name of Raju in this film. Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty will return as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte and Shyam respectively.

The essence of the first two films will be retained but the plot will be new. This film will start from the point where the second film ended.

John Abraham has replaced Akshay Kumar in Welcome Back and now Hera Pheri 3. The actor admitted that he was the one who revealed the news to Akshay both the times. “Akshay is a friend; we have done films like Housefull 2, Desi Boys and Garam Masala. He is very happy for me.”

Hera Pheri released in 2000 and is remembered as one of the funniest films of all time. The sequel of the film Phir Hera Pheri did good business as well, though it did not match up to the cult status of the first one.

“The story is set in the UAE, like Welcome Back,” producer Firoz Nadiadwala explained. “This film will present the country in a much glamorised manner. We have shortlisted many locations in the last few months. 85 per cent of film will be shot in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and a little portion in Mumbai. We plan to start rolling in the month of March and release it hopefully by the end of the year. We are going to finish the film in maximum two or three schedules.”

All eyes on UAE

The UAE is fast becoming a prominent shooting location for both Bollywood movies (Bang Bang, Happy New Year and Welcome Back in recent times) as well as Hollywood projects (Star Wars VII, Fast and Furious 7 have been filmed in the UAE of late) since it offers low production expense and lesser paperwork.

Dubai based entrepreneur Arjun Kumar who previously worked as associate producer with Firoz Nadiadwala for Welcome Back, will be working in this film as well. “We shot such a big canvas film Welcome Back in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the only film that was shot in all the mainstream hotels of the UAE. For Hera Pheri we are going to shoot extensively on Yas Island and Saadiyat Island. We will also explore places like Yas Marina Viceroy and Marina track.

“Obviously we will be using some of the sights of Dubai which we have not used before. Dubai is a very comfortable place to shoot. Movies are a visual medium and it has to appease your eyes and we are able to do this in the UAE. Welcome Back was all about luxury, so there was nothing better than the UAE for that.”

Abu Dhabi Film Commission has a rebate system that offers up to 30 per cent payback for film-makers. Dubai is working on a similar move to attract more movie shoots towards it, “Dubai does help us in facilitating access to venues, quick permission and they go out of their way to help us. We want prices to be more competitive in this region as well. In Dubai we will be shooting at the Versace hotel if it is ready by then. We are definitely going to use some places at Global Village. We did a lot of Dubai during Welcome Back, so this time we are trying to focus more on Abu Dhabi,” added Arjun.

Arjun also hinted at an important upcoming project that is in the works.

“There is something huge that is coming up, and we are going to do something with Hollywood. We have seen bits of Hollywood in Bollywood many times, but there has always been budget constraints but we are going to push the envelope in the future.”

• City Times