Mumbai, May 25: The legal representatives of veteran actor Paresh Rawal, Anand & Naik, have now responded to the allegations in light of the senior actor walking out of the 3rd part of the fan-favourite ‘Hera Pheri’ franchise. The actor’s lawyers have issued a statement for the first time with regards to the ongoing issue.

This comes after the actor assured a legal statement pertaining to the matter on Sunday morning. He wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “My lawyer, Ameet Naik, has sent an appropriate response regarding my rightful termination and exit. Once they read my response all issues will be laid to rest”.

As the day progressed, the actor’s lawyers drafted a watertight statement which brings to light the missing links in the story of Paresh Rawal’s exit from ‘Hera Pheri 3’.

The actor’s lawyers, exclusively told IANS, “Admittedly, they did not deliver the story, screenplay and also a draft of a long form agreement which was fundamental to the engagement of our client. In the absence of these and also since Mr. Nadiadwala, the producer of the original films, issued notice to our client and raised issues on the making of the film, our client chose to exit and returned the money with interest by terminating the Term sheet”.

The lawyer addressed Firoz Nadiadwala, the cousin of producer Sajid Nadiadwala, and shared that Paresh chose to step away from the project to safeguard his interest, and to not let his relations with Firoz Nadiadwala suffer.

The controversy erupted when a media report claimed that Paresh Rawal had walked out of ‘Hera Pheri 3’ effectively shattering the hearts of the loyal fans of the franchise. What followed was a lawsuit by Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar to the senior actor, as the superstar not only plays one of the three leads in the film but also serves as the producer after procuring rights to the film from Firoz Nadiadwala.

Paresh went on to claim that he didn’t walk out of the film over creative differences with his long-time collaborator Priyadarshan. He said that he holds huge respect for the filmmaker in his heart. He also shared that his decision wasn’t impulsive. Rather it was well thought out as the role of Babu Bhaiyya, the fulcrum of the entire franchise, stopped appealing to his creative sensibilities as an artist.

His lawyers' statement on Sunday further clears the air behind his much talked about exit from the franchise. The statement sheds light on his client’s liability to the project, and also his return of the principal amount with interest to the producer. The senior actor paid INR 11 lacs (the signing amount) along with an interest to Akshay Kumar's production house.

Earlier, Akshay's legal team had claimed that the actor’s exit caused significant disruptions, including financial losses related to the cast, crew, logistics, and trailer shoot.

Responding to the same, the senior actor’s lawyers noted, “First they accepted the monies but later unfortunately sent an untenable notice to our client when knowingly nothing was and is ready including no story and cloud over the title: so there can never be any loss. I hope they would accept this reality and move on from our client (sic)”.

As the actors’ legal teams take the matter forward, the fate of the franchise hangs by a thin thread.

(IANS)

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