It has been close to ten days since Paresh Rawal confirmed his exit from the third part of the popular comedy-franchise Hera Pheri. Since then, much has transpired: surprised reaction from director Priyadarshan, co-star Suniel Shetty claiming that the film cannot happen without Paresh and Akshay Kumar sending a legal notice to the veteran actor. Here is a breakdown of the whole controversy.

Paresh Rawal opts out of the film

On May 18, Paresh took to social media to confirm his exit from Hera Pheri 3. There were some reports earlier which claimed that Paresh had left the film due to creative differences. However, the actor refuted these claims in a brief social media post, where he wrote that his decision to leave the film was not due to “disagreement with the filmmaker”. “I hold immense love, respect, and faith in Mr. Priyadarshan the film director,” he had written.

Akshay Kumar sues Paresh Rawal for Rs 25 crore

Akshay had bought the rights of Hera Pheri 3 from producer Feroz Nadiadwala and was producing it under Cape of Good Films. After Paresh’s exit, reports began to surface on May 20 about Akshay suing Paresh and seeking Rs 25 crore in damages for exiting the film after signing a legal contract and starting the shoot.

Akshay’s legal representative, Pooja Tidke later told PTI that there will be “severe legal consequences” due to Paresh’s exit. “It’s of course hurt the franchise. We have written to him letting him know that there are a lot of legal consequences involved. There have been expenses incurred towards the cast, towards the crew, towards leading senior actors, logistics equipment, and shooting of the trailer,” she said.

Paresh responds to Akshay’s legal notice

Paresh tweeted on May 25 that his legal team has responded to Akshay’s notice and said, “Once they read my response, all issues will be laid to rest.” Soon, a new story began to unfold. Paresh’s lawyers claimed that the makers of Hera Pheri 3 didn’t deliver the screenplay or a draft of a long form agreement.

Reports also stated that the original producer of the film, Firoz Nadiadwala had issued notices to Suniel, Akshay, Paresh and director Priyadarshan, urging them not to do any promos and endorsements to the Hera Pheri franchise. Paresh wanted to have clarity on this before proceeding and was not comfortable with the disorganisation in the entire process.

That’s when Paresh decided to exit the film and also returned the signing amount of Rs 11 lakh with an interest of 15 percent.