Akshay Kumar Was First Offered Suniel Shetty's Role In Hera Pheri, Reveals Priyadarshan

There are no disagreements, says Akshay Kumar. The word does not exist in our dictionary, chimes in Priyadarshan. The actor and the director in perfect sync as they ready for their next release, Bhooth Bangla, which follows multiple comedies, most of them hits.

The duo first worked together in 2000 cult comedy Hera Pheri, a film credited with transforming Akshay's image from an action star to a hero who can also bring in the laughs. There was little looking back after that with the partnership leading to Garam Masala, Bhaagam Bhaag, Bhool Bhulaiyya, De Dana Dan and Khatta Meetha.

Have there been any disagreements in this long collaboration? Not at all, they both answer.

“If I tell him, ‘Sir, this looks nice?', and he says, ‘No', then I don't do it. There's no disagreement," Akshay told PTI in a joint interview with Priyadarshan. “That word, that meaning is not there in our dictionary,” the director added.

Their next venture Bhooth Bangla -- their first film in 14 years -- is a horror-comedy arriving in cinemas on April 10.

Priyadarshan does not believe in ghosts but Akshay said he believes in 'energies'. And this difference in perspectives is exactly what they hope will make the film work.

"The newness is people identifying so many things, which is happening in this country, like folklore, superstitions, black magic, so all these things are there. We are exploiting the weakness and putting a lot of logic into it and trying to make a fantasy. It's a fantasy, this could happen or not happen,” the director said.

Before Hera Pheri, Akshay experimented with comedy in David Dhawan's Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi (1997). That was buffoonery, he said, acknowledging Priyadarshan's contribution in introducing him to situational comedy.

"He taught me situational comedy. I also learnt about the importance of an editor and what the conviction of a director means. There is no need to take a shot from different angles. He told me that a director, who is also an editor, knows his job, and would not waste time and money of the producer.

"All the films he has made, whether it is in 50 or 40 days, he has been editing films in his mind while making it,” the 58-year-old star said.

Hera Pheri revolved around a quirky garage owner Baburao Ganpatrao Apte (Paresh Rawal), a cunning loafer Raju (Kumar) and a struggling pauper Shyam (Suneil Shetty) who find themselves in the middle of a kidnapping case due to a wrong number. The trio returned with a sequel “Phir Hera Pheri” in 2006, which was directed by Neeraj Vora.

Hera Pheri 3 is also in the pipeline.

Priyadarshan said he moved to comedy after working on drama films like Gardish and Virasat. Recalling a chance meeting with Kajol on a flight to Chennai, he said he told her he was trying a comedy film.

"She said, ‘That's interesting. It's a long time since we have seen something like that. Who all are there?' I said, ‘Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal', she said, ‘Are you joking?'. I (knew) nobody has ever seen these three people doing humour, Paresh was a villain most of the time, Suniel and Akshay were doing action films (but I wanted to do it),” Priyadarshan told PTI. He had initially offered Akshay the hero's role, Shyam, eventually played by Shetty.

“He (Akshay) heard the whole thing and said I don't want to be the hero, let me do Raju's role. I was shocked. But he was right. When the film came out, I thought that Akshay was perfectly right, and if I had done it the other way, things would not have worked for anybody.” Akshay said he saw the potential in the script and felt he could do justice to the role of Raju as he considered working with a big director like Priyadarshan a privilege.

“I said, 'just one change, I want to play Raju if possible'. He (Priyadarshan) said but the role doesn't have a heroine opposite him and I was like, ‘I'll do it'," Akshay recounted, adding that he had no heroine paired opposite him in his other films like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Khakee.

“There are some roles that you feel are right. So, an actor should not see whether you are hero or not and rather see how the film is. Both Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Khakee were great scripts. I'm from that school (of acting) where I don't just see my role but what the script, and screenplay in its entirety. If I like it, it will be great, I'll do it irrespective of whether it is a 10-day role, I will do it because I want to be a part of a good film,” the actor said.

The two friends have three projects coming up -- fantasy horror comedy Bhooth Bangla, action thriller Haiwaan and fan-favourite Hera Pheri 3.

Priyadarshan hopes the partnership extends beyond all these films.

“When there is potential in an actor, if you really know how to exploit it, it will work. So far, I'm very comfortable (with Kumar) because that's why we did eight films. My comfort level, luck and success in Bollywood, most of the credit goes to Akshay. I hope it will continue even after this film,” Priyadarshan said.

"And from that character (in Hera Pheri), you can see in all my films, including this (Bhooth Bangla), the same Akshay in different shades,” the director said.

Akshay is thankful to Priyadarshan for letting him play a villain in Haiwaan, co-starring Saif Ali Khan.

“I wanted to do a villain's role, which I did in his film Haiwaan,” he said.

Actors Wamiqa Gabbi, Paresh Rawal, Tabu, and Rajpal Yadav round out the cast of “Bhooth Bangla”, which is produced by Kumar, Shobha Kapoor and Ektaa R Kapoor. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)