Hera Pheri

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.

This is an ok film, which is only worth watching for amitabh bachchans performance, the film has a very good song in it which is sad but good called yeh tere dosti, vinod khanna also stars in this movie about two friends and how their friendship breaks up.

Hera Pheri (1976) : Brief Review -

Prakash Mehra's masala film has one of the best twists for any film from the 70s. Mehra pairs Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna as best friends in Hera Pheri, who can give their lives for each other. The film begins with a lot of cons and stays the same for almost an hour before things are changed into drama. The first 15-20 are so beautifully portrayed as we see the two friends fooling people to earn money. Then that club scene when Vijay makes 3 Queens to win the game, and even Ajay is shocked. The same is followed by the impersonation of saints, and then we have the entry of the heroine, Saira Banu. She begins with a sweet Marathi accent, followed by a glamorous entry in a glittering golden dress. After that, you can easily notice the age factor in her face, as it was in the mid-70s, and she wasn't the same Saira Banu as she was in the 60s. That cards scene was a testament to Mehra's vision of looking at international cinema. When Hollywood was done with an Oscar-winning blockbuster like "The Sting" (1973), at least we could have a scene like that, if not the entire film. I actually started losing interest in the film when Ajay turned against Vijay for his father, and all of it was so sudden and easy. It didn't look reasonable at all, and then came a mind-blowing twist in the end, which answered all my queries and literally made the entire fiasco meaningful. The songs aren't too good, but I enjoyed "Waqt ki Hera Pheri" because it's a situational and a fun song. Amitabh Bachchan's performance was fine, Vinod Khanna was good, Sulakshana Pandit looked beautiful, though the role hadn't much to do, and Saira Banu was a bit dated. Pinchoo Kapoor surprises in a dual role, and Shreeram Lagoo too has one surprising element as a beggar. Overall, Prakash Mehra packs a solid masala film with one of the best twists in the end that might remind you of Dev Anand's blockbuster "Johnny Mera Naam."

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

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.