‘Remove Farhad Samji from Hera Pheri’ cries get louder: Fanclubs and trade expers share their views

The chatter around Hera Pheri 3 refuses to die down anytime soon. First, the makers were asked (by fans) to get actor Akshay Kumar back for the third instalment, after Kumar had confirmed that he has opted out of the franchise, and now that he is finally on board, it appears the fans aren’t too pleased with filmmaker Farhad Samji helming the project, also starring Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal.

On Friday evening, a twitter handle called Akkistan, one of the most popular fanclubs of Kumar, urged movie buffs to unite and make ‘Remove Farhad Samji from Hera Pheri’ trend. And it is among the top trends on the social media platform.

Talking to us about why such uproar, Neeraj Raut, the owner of the fanclub says, “Starting from Entertainment (2014), Housefull 3 (2016), Housefull 4 (2019), and the latest Bachchan Pandey (2022), none of Farhad’s films have helped Akshay sir at the box office or content-wise. In fact, it has caused only more damage to his image than do any good.”

This demand for another director for Hera Pheri 3 grew after Samji’s recent directorial, he web series Pop Kaun? received negative reviews across sections. “Akkians were against him from very first day of this news coming out, but we were waiting until this Pop Kaun? show released, and now we are sure he should ruin a classic franchise which has earned critical and commercial acclaim in the past. His content is becoming more cringe with every passing project,” rues Raut, who has also written an open letter to Kumar, urging him and the producers to rethink the decision.

“Other than Farhan, anyone else works. There’s Raj Shandilya, Raj Mehta, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Priyadarshan who directed the OG Hera Pheri… Even Sajid Khan is better than him,” he quips.

While the Hera Pheri fans call for Samji’s removal, trade experts seem divided on the opinion. Trade expert Atul Mohan agrees with the audience’s sentiment and says, “We should respect public opinion. Times have changed now, and while earlier nobody cared who directed a film, now ardent fans want to have a say. Producers should definitely reconsider this and bring on board someone who can take the level of this sequel a notch higher. You don’t need a genius but surely someone sensible to do justice to a popular franchise.”

While trade expert Taran Adarsh agrees that “any amount of twitter trending can influence a major decision”, he adds, “Eventually, this is a call that has to be taken by the producers, the studio and the actors involved.”

Opposing this whole culture of social media trends, trade analyst Komal Nahta notes that it’s too early to comment if a director should helm a project or not and one should wait till the trailer comes out. He elaborates, “Who are they to understand the dynamics of filmmaking? Now if they start deciding who should make a film and who should be cast, then why don’t they start making it? They have a right to comment once the film is available to the public.”