Paresh Rawal suddenly announced his exit from ‘Hera Pheri 3’ and Akshay Kumar’s production house filed a lawsuit against the actor. Rumours suggested that Paresh may have left the film because Akshay Kumar cut his role. However, director Priyadarshan denied this in an interview. Rawal’s lawyer told IANS regarding him leaving the film, “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.”Meanwhile, amdist the ‘Hera Pheri 3’ dispute, here’s recalling the time when director Priyadarshan had addressed rumours of Akshay Kumar cutting John Abraham’s role in ‘Garam Masala’. The director had reacted to it and said in a conversation with Rediff, “Am I an idiot to let one of my actors make my film for me? This is nothing but a figment of a troublesome journalist’s imagination. It may be some people’s idea of publicity, not mine. I’ve been around for too long to let actors dictate to me. Akshay never showed the slightest inclination to invade John’s territory. In fact, I’ve been in touch with John. Not once has he expressed any grievance against Akshay. So who are these people spreading these rumours?”Even now, Priyadarshan clarified to Mid-day with regards to ‘Hera Pheri 3’, “With me, Akshay has never cut down anybody’s roles. He does not interfere with a director’s vision at all.”He had further said that Akshay was deeply hurt to know about Rawal’s sudden exit without informing any of them. “All our contracts were signed. Ten days ago, Suniel, Akshay, and Paresh shot a scene and the IPL teaser. It was only after we unanimously agreed to do Hera Pheri 3 that Akshay bought the rights (of Hera Pheri 3). Akshay had tears in his eyes when he asked me, ‘Priyan, why is Paresh doing this to us?’ Akshay shouldn’t suffer financial losses because Paresh walked out on a whim,” said the director.
