Page 75

Phir Hera Pheri

Movie Phir Hera Pheri Director Neeraj Vora Cast Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Bipasha Basu, Rimi Sen

Deepa Gahlot

Priyadarshan�s Hera Pheri (2000) was the remake of a Malayalam hit Ramjirao Speaking (1989). Which goes to show that, when a comedy works, it makes people laugh all over the country and over a period of time. The original creators of the Hera Pheri characters Siddique-Lal (who also did a sequel to their film - Mannar Mathai Speaking in 1995), are not given due credit. But not since the Johar-Mehmood series in the sixties, have a set of comic characters been repeated in a Hindi film. So Phir Hera Pheri, directed by Neeraj Vora, the dialogue writer of Hera Pheri, is the first sequel to a comedy in a long time. Unlike Hollywood, Hindi cinema has just about flirted with sequels in the past and failed. But this year, with a spate of �Part 2s� coming up, one can feel the winds of change blowing. That still doesn�t take away from the remarkable fact that over six-odd years after Hera Pheri became such a cult comedy (it didn�t seem so hot when it was first released), audiences were waiting breathless for its three madcap protagonists to return. Phir Hera Pheri is not a great departure from the original in tone or format. Vora faithfully recreates the three main characters with their familiar kinks and takes the beaten path, right down to the Priyadarshan-esqe climax in which all characters congregate at one spot � in this case a circus � and get involved in a loony chase sequence. Before deciding on whether Phir Hera Pheri is likeable or not, one has to keep in mind that the audience today is in the mood for comedy, so the product need not necessarily be of superior quality. Secondly, the Indian style of humour is not understated like the British variety and the louder it is, the better. Now, audiences are also willing to accept some risqu� humour � though this film has none of that. So audiences expect shrill, extremely silly humour, quick retorts and witty punchlines from a Hindi comedy and Phir Hera Pheri delivers on all counts. The jokes need not even be particularly bright or original. For instance, �Kya aapke naam bhi Anuradha hai?� Suniel Shetty asks Bipasha Basu, remembering his dead wife Tabu from the previous film. Deadpan Bipasha says, �Kyon? Aapka naam bhi Anuradha hai?� The joke is in the use of �bhi� (also) in the line. Simple, but hilarious.