Hera Pheri

Hera Pheri review :

Most Bollywood buffs know the 2000 wala Hera Pheri where Paresh Rawal, as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, stole the show from its main heroes Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty. But not many may recall that another fine action comedy called Hera Pheri had set the box office on fire long before this one.

This 1976 Hera Pheri was directed by the late great Prakash Mehra whose Zanjeer (1973) had turned Amitabh Bachchan in to an overnight superstar. Here, he repeated Bachchan along with Vinod Khanna who play besties Ajay and Vijay. They are chors who get entangled in a larger 'hera pheri' wali gang and eventually, the close friends turn in to sworn foes...

Hera Pheri cleverly blends Amitabh's comic timing with Vinod's brawn to make an ideal entertaining fare which was lapped up by the audience that time as well as in its multiple re-runs in the '80s and '90s. In fact, my first theatrical experience was as late as 1998 when it was re-released in Mumbai under a new name 'Do Chor'.

Beauty Queen Saira Banu got top billing on seniority basis. She played a trickster with an agenda of her own. Admittedly, her chemistry with Big B was quite thanda in comparison to Vinod's romantic interludes with the lovely Sulakshana Pandit. Incidentally, Pandit was a last minute addition to the cast replacing the elitist Mallika Sarabhai who quit the movie after shooting a few scenes.

The main villain - roly poly Pinchoo Kapoor - was a bit of a letdown though. The film deserved a solid villain to face the two macho stars. Except the title song, the music by Kalyanji Anandji was also so-so.

Nevertheless, Hera Pheri became one of the biggest hits of 1976 and Mehra promptly planned his next blockbuster repeating Bachchan and Khanna. That one was called Muqaddar Ka Sikandar!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Most Bollywood buffs know the 2000 wala Hera Pheri where Paresh Rawal, as Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, stole the show from its main heroes Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty. But not many may recall that another fine action comedy called Hera Pheri had set the box office on fire long before this one.

This 1976 Hera Pheri was directed by the late great Prakash Mehra whose Zanjeer (1973) had turned Amitabh Bachchan in to an overnight superstar. Here, he repeated Bachchan along with Vinod Khanna who play besties Ajay and Vijay. They are chors who get entangled in a larger 'hera pheri' wali gang and eventually, the close friends turn in to sworn foes...

Hera Pheri cleverly blends Amitabh's comic timing with Vinod's brawn to make an ideal entertaining fare which was lapped up by the audience that time as well as in its multiple re-runs in the '80s and '90s. In fact, my first theatrical experience was as late as 1998 when it was re-released in Mumbai under a new name 'Do Chor'.

Beauty Queen Saira Banu got top billing on seniority basis. She played a trickster with an agenda of her own. Admittedly, her chemistry with Big B was quite thanda in comparison to Vinod's romantic interludes with the lovely Sulakshana Pandit. Incidentally, Pandit was a last minute addition to the cast replacing the elitist Mallika Sarabhai who quit the movie after shooting a few scenes.

The main villain - roly poly Pinchoo Kapoor - was a bit of a letdown though. The film deserved a solid villain to face the two macho stars. Except the title song, the music by Kalyanji Anandji was also so-so.

Nevertheless, Hera Pheri became one of the biggest hits of 1976 and Mehra promptly planned his next blockbuster repeating Bachchan and Khanna. That one was called Muqaddar Ka Sikandar!!

Review By Kamal K

Full masala entertainer! The plot is having interesting twists and turns! Sulakshana Pandit looks very beautiful!

Amitabh, Vinod Khanna, Saira Banu, Pinchoo Kapoor- all have done fantastic jon. Prakash Mehra's superb bonanza!

Only thing, PK and Ghanshyamdas' make up and get up should be more distinguishable, totally different! But it's not so!

Music and songs are lovely, picturization is superb. A must watch flick of 70s.

A dated movie that looked good in the 70s but just seems over the top. Acting was good but script was stereo typical of movies of that era. I had skipped school to watch this movie, but now when I watch it, the movie doesn't seem as impressive. Saira Banu was wrong cast as she looked prematurely older than Amitabh. Sulakshana did not have much to do in the movie and seemed out of place as the love interest to Vinod Khanna. Pinchoo kapoor was weak as a villain. Dialogues weren't memorable and as far as the songs go, only one of Amitabh's sad song stands out. So all in all just an average movie you watch and forget.

This is a movie to watch Amitabh doing great comedy at the time of the angry young man image. This is not a movie to watch for the sake of the plot as it isn't that great. But the comedy of the movie, as the name implies, is simply fantastic.

We all know that Amitabh's acting is just amazing and this is yet another movie to show it. He has done a spectacular job at the comedic scenes and still doesn't let you down when its time to get serious. Alongside, Vinod Khanna does well too. He is a capable actor that shows in each of his movies. The best part of the movie though is Asrani. He isn't in the movie for much, but his part will definitely entertain.