Phir Hera Pheri

Phir Hera Pheri (transl Foul Play Once Again) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language comedy film written and directed by Neeraj Vora. It serves as the sequel to Hera Pheri (2000) and second installment of the Hera Pheri franchise. It stars Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal reprising their roles from the previous film with Bipasha Basu, Rimi Sen, Johnny Lever and Rajpal Yadav. Following the events of the previous film, a twist of fate changes the lives of Raju, Shyam and Baburao when they get cheated by a fraudster, Anuradha. They must now find another way to repay the loan taken from a dreaded gangster called Tiwari.

Upon its release on 9 June 2006, the film was a major commercial success, becoming the 8th highest grosser of the year.

Over the years, the film has attained a cult status and significant fan following across generations owing to Akshay Kumar's comic timing as well as its supporting casts like Rawal, Lever and Yadav. It is now considered a milestone in comedy films, as well as one of the best sequels ever made.

Plot
Hera Pheri ended with the trio of Raju, Ghanshyam alias Shyam, and Baburao Ganpatrao Apte (fondly called Babu Bhaiya); rich and rolling in money. Phir Hera Pheri tells the story of what happens after they become wealthy.

The film opens with a prologue bringing the audience up to raisin, stating that each has suffered a personal loss despite their new riches. Shyam lost his only love Anuradha Shivshanker Panikar in an accident, Raju lost his ailing mother, and Babu Bhaiya - having nothing to lose in the first place - lost the little traces of common sense that he did possess.

The three men are living a lavish life in a massive mansion and splurging on various luxuries. Raju hears about an idea for doubling his wealth in 21 days from a con woman, Anuradha, who is claiming to be a bank manager, and she convinces Shyam and Babu Bhaiya to go along with it. Raju first arranges for ₹30 lakh from Shyam and Babu Bhaiya and then a further ₹50 lakh by selling their bungalow. He convinces a small-time goon, Pappu, to contribute the remaining balance of ₹20 lakh so that he can come up with the minimum deposit of ₹1 crore, which Anuradha has promised to double.

The trio invests the money and three weeks later realises that it was all a scam and that they are now penniless. To make matters worse, they do not even have possession of their bungalow, which Raju had sold off to arrange the last bit of money needed, and have to live in a chawl (tenement). Pappu shows up at the bungalow the next day to pick up his portion of the money but is shocked to learn that Raju has left and the bungalow is now in possession of a Parsi gun collector. Pappu is now in trouble because he had borrowed money from a lisping but dreaded gangster, Tiwari, who will kill him if he doesn't pay up.

He comes across Raju one day, and upon hearing of the scam pretends to be sympathetic. He tricks him and brings the three to his boss, telling him that they are the ones who took the money. Tiwari threatens them and tells them they have to come up with the money or else they will die. As they are being taken home by some of Tiwari's goons, the three manage to escape. Raju, Shyam, and Babu Bhaiya are about to leave the city when Raju remembers that he owes money to a woman named Anjali Patekar. The three head over to her house and are surprised to find that she is Pappu's sister. Tiwari's goons show up and kidnap Anjali because Pappu has not returned the money. Feeling guilty that he is the one who got Anjali in trouble, Raju decides that he will go to Tiwari and try to get her freed. Shyam and Babu Bhaiya refuse to leave without them and decide to stay as well. The three go back to Tiwari to ask him to release Anjali, and Tiwari tells them to bring the money, releasing Anjali.

Raju, Shyam, and Babu Bhaiya now have three days to come up with ₹40 lakh to pay back the goon, or else they will themselves be killed. Raju overhears the neighbour, Munna Bhai, plotting to steal drugs from another gangster, Nanji Bhai, and wrongly assumes they are talking about stealing money. Raju hatches a plan for the three of them to steal from Munna Bhai. The three manage to succeed barely but are confused when they do not find money inside. Raju recognises stuff like drugs and tells them that they are worth at least ₹3 crores (thirty million). They think that if they can sell them to Kachra Seth and pay off Tiwari, they can also become rich. They then run into Anuradha, and she tells them that the entire scam was hatched by Kabira (the gangster from the first Hera Pheri) and his close aide Chhota Chetan to get revenge on the trio and that the only reason she went along with it was that they were holding her niece hostage (Anuradha's sister was Kabira's gang member and part of the first film's kidnapping plot). Their money was converted to diamonds to pay the ransom, but she fled with them once she discovered her niece had escaped and hid them under a decoration of a circus train (named "Kook-Doo-Koo"). Meanwhile, Munna's men find the drugs the trio stole and take them back. Tiwari's men then reach to collect the money at the same time the trio return with Anjali and Anuradha, whom Tiwari's men then kidnap. After planning on using fake suitcases to trick Nanji Bhai into giving them money and then pay off Tiwari's loan with that money, the trio summon Tiwari and his men and Nanji Bhai and his men to arrive at Royal Circus; Pappu and his men, Munna Bhai and his men and Chhota Chetan and his men all overhear and travel to Royal Circus. The Parsi gun collector sees Munna with his guns and follows him to the circus as well, while the group of actors that drop the trio off to the circus hear about the money there and decide to follow as well.

The trio first tricks Nanji Bhai and his men with the empty suitcases and takes the money, which they open to discover it's fake. With no other choice, they decide to give it to Tiwari, hoping he will assume it's fake. He does and frees Anuradha and Anjali, but after Nanji discovers the empty suitcase, he confronts the trio and gets into an argument with Babu Bhaiya, who mistakenly reveals the money is fake. Munna Bhai and his men, Pappu and his men, Chhota Chetan and his men, the Parsi gun collector and the group of actors all reach. The trio take the drugs and run away from them all as a chase ensues. During the chase, everyone hears about Anuradha's diamonds and begins to look for them, but they are strewn all over the ground in public by a gorilla. Soon the cops reach the spot, and they arrest Tiwari, Pappu, Kachra Seth, Nanji Bhai and Chhota Chetan. Raju, Shyam, and Babu Bhaiya flee along with Anjali, Anuradha, and her niece. Raju escapes with the bag containing the three antique guns with him, not knowing the bag also has Pappu's cell phone.

Pappu informs Shyam and Babu Bhaiya that the guns are worth ₹6 crores, guns, after which they try to call Raju on Pappu's cellphone. The film ends on a cliffhanger as Raju, not knowing the value of the guns, attempts to throw them while Pappu's cell phone, which he discovered earlier, rings in his mouth.

Cast

 * Akshay Kumar as Raju
 * Suniel Shetty as Ghanshyam ″Shyam″
 * Paresh Rawal as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte alias Babu Bhaiya
 * Bipasha Basu as Anuradha Munjal
 * Rimi Sen as Anjali Patekar, Pappu's sister
 * Johny Lever as Goon Munna / Dhotar Chor
 * Sharat Saxena as Gangster Tiwari / Totla Seth, Pappu's boss
 * Manoj Joshi as Kachra Seth
 * Milind Gunaji as Nanji Bhai
 * Rajpal Yadav as Pappu Patekar, Anjali's brother
 * Ravi Kishan as Gangster Chhote, Tiwari's sidekick
 * Suresh Menon as Peter Singh, Nanji's most trusted sidekick and Munna's secret informer
 * Dinesh Hingoo as Parsi Gun Collector
 * Tiku Talsania as Police Officer (special appearance)
 * Javed Khan Amrohi as a Khetwadi Police Chowki constable
 * Razak Khan as Chhota Chetan, Kabira's sidekick
 * Gulshan Grover as Gangster Kabira (archive footage from Hera Pheri)
 * Kashmira Shah as Kabira's Gang Member and Anuradha's sister (archive footage from Hera Pheri)
 * Sunil Pal as Kishan Verma, Munna's sidekick
 * Kiku Sharda as Kanji Singh, Munna's sidekick
 * Viju Khote as Ravana from Ram-Leela, troupe member
 * Madan Singh as Tiwari's tall henchman (voice dubbed by Shailendra Pandey)
 * Manmouji as Ram-Leela Troupe Member
 * Jagdeep Singh as a headless giant
 * Mukesh Ahuja as Circus Magician
 * Nana Patekar as a narrator
 * Dia Mirza as an Item Girl in the song "Pyaar Ki Chatni" (special appearance)
 * Neeraj Vora as the Bus Passenger speaking on the phone (special appearance)
 * Ghanshyam Rohera as Bus Conductor (special appearance)
 * Tabu as Anuradha Shivshankar Panikar (archive footage from Hera Pheri)

Soundtrack
The music was composed by Himesh Reshammiya, with lyrics written by Sameer. The soundtrack album was released by T-Series.

The song "Aye Meri Zohrajabeen" was only seen in the end title credits. The song became so popular that it was added in the movie later. The dream sequence of Rawal was added following the song.

According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 10,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's fifteenth highest-selling.

Box Office
The film received positive reviews from critics and earned ₹70 crore at the end of its theatrical run and it was a box-office blockbuster.

Sequel
A sequel titled Hera Pheri 3 is planned, but the production was postponed after director Neeraj Vora died on 14 December 2017 after a prolonged illness. After the response from Firoz Nadiadwala, the sequel is under production and will be released soon.

On 23 May 2018, it was confirmed that Hera Pheri 3 will now be directed by Indra Kumar and star the same team of Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, and Paresh Rawal in the lead. It was reported that the film will be shot on a start-to-finish schedule and Kumar confirmed to The Indian Express that the film will be ready for release in the second half of 2019 (but it didn't release in 2019). The film will continue the story of the previous two. Later, Indra Kumar left the project for unknown reasons and confirmed that Priyadarshan, who directed the first movie, will return as the director of the third.

On 21 February 2023, some reports shooting on a promo for Hera Pheri 3 with Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal had started.