Suniel Shetty says he’s looking forward to ‘being back on set with Akshay Kumar’ for Hera Pheri 3: ‘It’s a relief’

Recently, Suniel wrote a long social media post, describing how filmmaking and decisions made in the process are not all about actors and other creatives involved, a lot of it is about the business of filmmaking.

In a Linkedin post, Suniel wrote, “So Hera Pheri 3 is finally happening! Look forward to being back on set with Pareshji and Akki (Akshay). Like all good things, this one took some time, but it’s a relief to finally have an answer to this question! Films are such a huge part of our culture, and yet, not many understand what goes into making a film. Apart from creative challenges, the business model and needs of the movie business make it as challenging as any other.”

He added that the business and finance part of filmmaking is a major part of the process. “There are several factors for any business to succeed – a good idea, thorough market research, a solid business plan, a skilled team, funding at the right time and a strong distribution network. The movie business isn’t very different. To explain the entirety of the movie business here would be over simplifying it. But let’s just say having a good script, a set of actors and a director is literally just the start point. There’s the financing of a movie. It’s usually studios or production houses, which invest their own capital. Their teams assess the viability of a project before deciding on the budget.”

He added, “Some large films are financed through pre-sales and distribution deals, in which the distribution rights for the film are sold in advance to distributors and/or streaming platforms. Like the startup world, access to financing depends on the size of the film, as well as the connections and resources available to the producers and investors involved. Another key aspect in the movie business is distribution. It’s a complex process that involves several layers like producers, distributors and exhibitors.”

Suniel also wrote in detail about monetisation of films and talked about distribution rights, marketing, TV, OTT and music rights, among others.

He concluded with, “Many films also tie-up with brands for in-film placements or co-marketing activities, as an additional layer of revenue, or sometimes to offset part of the pre release marketing expenses. There are so many other aspects that make the movie business challenging – audience preferences, data and insights, IP rights and licences, pre and post production, line production, permissions, promotions, pricing etc etc. 33 years and 125 films later I don’t have it all figured out, but I will keep getting better at it.”

Hera Pheri 3 is being directed by Farhad Samji. Kartik Aaryan has also been roped in for the third film in the hit comedy franchise. The first film in the series came out in 2000 and was directed by Priyadarshan. It was a remake of the 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking and starred Tabu and Om Puri . Neeraj Vohra’s Phir Hera Pheri came out in 2006.