Hera Pheri 3 is coming! A few interesting facts behind ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ – The original Hera Pheri

On the occasion of Priyadarshan’s birthday, at the shooting sets of Bhooth Bangla, the movie which marks the collaboration of the ace director and Akshay Kumar after 14 years, Priyadarshan made a special announcement. Yes, Hera Pheri 3 is coming! Hera Pheri released in year 2000 and directed by Priyan is widely regarded as the best comedy film of Bollywood. The movie, which was not a huge box office hit at the time of release, achieved popularity after it was aired on television and gradually received cult classic status. Still now, it’s the most popular Akshay movie among the masses, and the movie played a magnificent role in the success of his career, who was delivering flops after flops in the late 1990s. The success of Dhadkan came soon after. The movie Hera Pheri gave a new life to comedy genre in Hindi cinema with the arrival of new millennium, no doubt.

Hera Pheri – An evergreen comedy film & a movie with zero haters

Hera Pheri has been a part of meme culture all these years, and still has repeated value of watching. The movie addressed the middle-class common problems like employment, shelter etc in a humorous way, which audience related easily. Success of Hera Pheri encouraged Priyadarshan to lift scripts of some of the best Malayalam movies of 1980s and 1990s, work a little bit on it and release them in Hindi. Most of those films had more or less same star cast, including supporting characters.

While other Bollywood directors remade several Tamil and Telugu mass masala entertainers to Hindi, Priyan primarily focussed on Malayalam remakes, which made him truly exceptional. As Malayalam cinema is content oriented, many of the scripts, mostly telling the problems of middle class, connected the right chord with the audience and made them big hits in Hindi. Of course, producers have been benefitted most. But definitely it helped to explore the comic talents of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav and many more.

Though people talk a lot about Hera Pheri, little is heard about the original film, ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’, which is absolutely heart breaking for Malayali people like me. Script and story thread together form the backbone of almost every successful film, and if people are watching it over and over without getting bored, then that script is special, and that’s why ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ is worth a discussion. The makers really deserve appreciation for choosing common man problems for their debut film, and presented before audience in comic but a convenient way. Through this column, I love to share some interesting facts about ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ which Hera Pheri fans will definitely love to listen. Also read: Top 10 Bollywood Remakes of Malayalam Movies.

‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ was the debut movie of Siddique–Lal duo

Initially working as assistant directors to director Fazil (of Manichitrathazhu fame), and after scripting a few films, Siddique–Lal marked their directorial debut through ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ in 1989. The duo scripted the movie as well, and the movie ran in full-packed theatres for weeks. The movie was a blockbuster. It was the debut film of the lead actors, Rekha and Sai Kumar also, the characters reprised by Suniel Shetty and Tabu in Hindi remake.

Composer S. Balakrishnan also made his debut. All the 4 songs he composed for the film were extremely popular at the time of release, especially the emotional song, “Kanneerkkaayaliletho” and the song where friends share their dreams through “Oraayiram Kinaakkalal“. Some songs were superfluous in Hindi, and didn’t emotionally connect with audience, which was not the case of Ramji Rao Speaking.  

Siddique–Lal duo directed only 5 movies together & all of them were hits

After the success of their debut flick ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ in 1989, the duo went on to co-script and direct 4 more movies together – In Harihar Nagar (1990), Godfather (1991), Vietnam Colony (1992), and Kabooliwala (1993), before they split and started their independent journey. Lal later established as a successful actor and producer as well, while Siddique continued with screenwriting and direction. Siddique directed Bodyguard in 3 different languages and all of them were hits – Malayalam, Tamil and last one in Hindi with Salman Khan which was a blockbuster. Siddique passed away in 2023.

Most of their films have been remade to multiple languages, but they never received the much-deserved credit

Their debut flick ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ has been remade to Hindi, Telugu, Odia, Kannada, Bengali and most recently in Punjabi. Among all remakes, Hera Pheri (2000) is the most popular, and still a part of meme culture just like original.

Their second film In Harihar Nagar owns a unique feat. The movie has been remade to Hindi twice and both were box office hits. Parda Hai Parda in 1992 and Dhol in 2007 were those films. Dhol was directed by Priyadarshan. The movie was remade to all other south Indian languages. Two sequels of In Harihar Nagar has been made in Malayalam in successive years, both directed by Lal of Siddique–Lal duo.

Their third film Godfather (1991) is the longest running Malayalam film in theatres, a record still to be broken. It was later remade in Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Odia. Hindi version was directed by Priyadarshan, and the movie titled Hulchul (2004) was a box office hit. In short, Priyadarshan introduced many superhit Malayalam comedy movies to Hindi speaking audience. Out of the 5 films directed by the duo, Priyadarshan remade the first three of them to Hindi, and all were declared hits.

If rumours are to be believed, Vietnam Colony (1992) has striking similarities with James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). Both the movies tell the story about corporates who send their person to a colony of poor people, to get their trust and vacate them. But Vietnam Colony itself is a remake of 1983 British film Local Hero. The movie had a Tamil remake. Their 5^th and final film, Kabooliwala (1993) had a Tamil remake titled Meesai Madhavan.

Innocent & Mukesh – Almost permanent fixtures for Siddique–Lal duo films

Except In Harihar Nagar, Innocent appeared in all the four directorial ventures of the celebrated duo playing important roles, while Mukesh played the lead role in first three projects. Needless to say, these movies played a magnificent role in the career success of both of them.

Mukesh’s character in ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ was reprised by Akshay Kumar in Hera Pheri, which became an iconic character, while Innocent’s character was reprised by Paresh Rawal. The characters, Raju and Baburao Ganpatrao Apte became immensely popular. Since then, both these artists worked with Priyadarshan in a series of movies, and has been widely celebrated by audience.

When Priyadarshan remade Godfather to Hindi as Hulchul, Paresh Rawal reprised Innocent’s role as one among the brothers who owns a secret family life. Also read: Akshay Kumar played lead role in these 10 remakes of Malayalam cinema.

A. R. Rahman programmed the song “Kalikalam” for the movie

Rahman worked as a keyboard player in many Tamil and Malayalam movies of 1980s and Ramji Rao Speaking was one such. When the recording of “Kalikalam” was done in Chennai, A. R. Rahman was a part of it.

Where are these Malayalam actors right now, after 35 years of making?

I know, most of you have liked 2024 mystery thriller, Kishkinda Kandam a lot. Have you noticed, Ramji Rao of ‘Ramji Rao Speaking‘ is Appu Pillai of ‘Kishkinda Kandam’? He acted in Rifle Club too, as the senior most member Lonappan. He was a good-looking villain in the late 1980s and 90s, later moved to character roles. Ramji Rao will always remain an iconic villain character of Malayalam cinema.

Innocent who played Mannar Mathai’s role is no more. He passed away in March 2023. He was a cancer survivor too. He also served as an elected MP from Irinjalakkuda constituency once, and later lost his sitting seat. He was associated with LDF. Mukesh who played the lead role of Gopalakrishnan is currently serving as LDF’s MLA in Kerala legislative assembly. I already told, their roles were reprised by Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar respectively. Just like Paresh Rawal, Mannar Mathai’s character established Innocent as a leading comedian of Malayalam cinema. Paresh Ji fully justified that role, no doubt. When we talk a lot about “Babu Bhaiya”, Mathai Chettan also deserves applause. He was the soul of Ramji Rao Speaking, just like Paresh Rawal in Hera Pheri.

It was the debut film of Rekha and Sai Kumar. Sai Kumar who looks so innocent, did hero roles in 1990s and later moved to villain roles. His transformation was so amazing. Nowadays he is not regular in films. Same is the case of Rekha too. Actors like Sukumari who played mother’s role, Kunchan, Shankaradi, Mamukkoya etc who played supporting roles are no more.

Mannar Mathai Speaking (1995), the real sequel of Ramji Rao Speaking we rarely talk about

I recommend you to watch Mannar Mathai Speaking (1995), which is the sequel of Ramji Rao Speaking. Mannar Mathai is Innocent’s character name, and he was the person who scored most in the first part, just like Paresh Rawal. It’s to be noted that the sequel was made at a time when sequels were not so common in Indian film industry. A sequel of Ramji Rao Speaking was made 6 years later, which testimonies how each and every character of the film etched in the hearts of Malayalis forever.

Mannar Mathai Speaking is also a hilarious comedy film, scripted by Siddique-Lal, but directed by a new director. The directors had already split that time. Though the movie couldn’t match the prequel in terms of impact, it was a successful venture for producers. Vani Viswanath made her debut in this film, who recently made a comeback through Rifle Club. Both the movies introduced a new heroine to Mollywood. Almost all scenes of the movie were copied for Bhagam Bhag, for which makers had to face legal issues. Someone told me once, no wonder why Bhagam Bhag looks so similar to Hera Pheri. There are many iconic scenes in Mannar Mathai Speaking. It’s far better than Priyadarshan’s Bhagam Bhag, and you will easily connect with original characters.

And a few words on the iconic ‘Dhoti’ scene in Hera Pheri

Everyone likes that ‘Dhoti’ scene in Hera Pheri. In Malayalam film also, it was the most hilarious scene. While I was watching Hera Pheri for the first time, I was so curious to know, how that scene will be filmed in Hindi, because they also needed a single word to perfectly match the situation and deliver two different meanings. In Malayalam, they were saying ‘Mund’ which means ‘Dhoti’. Mund if slightly pronounced different, its meaning is ‘Go and talk’. If I write it, I have to write as ‘Mind’ which you have to read as मिण्ड.  मुण्ड is dhothi. Innocent misinterprets मुण्ड as मिण्ड.

In response Innocent shyly responds ‘Njan Mundoola’. Correct Malayalam is ‘Njan Mindoola’ which means, I won’t talk (saying without saying I am shy to talk to girls). But Innocent uses incorrect word as a reply to ‘Mind’ which itself was hilarious while watching Malayalam movie. You can’t get that essence in Hindi version, yet, the dialogue ‘Udale’ was perfect fit for the situation. Literally it was not possible to use same Malayalam word here. Innocent’s character says, they were practicing Chavittu Nadakam, either outside or on the top/chest of Guru, indirectly mentioning about the thrown coconut, which was also not possible to translate to Hindi. Chavittu Nadakam is an art form practised among Christians in drama format. But when the word is literally translated, its meaning is different, and perfectly fits the situation where the three characters are fighting together. The fact that they are staying in a drama company perfectly fits that situation. It’s practically impossible to include such nuances in Hindi version. Unfortunately, it happens with every remake.

Will Hera Pheri work now, if made in present times?

Just a question. In this era where we live with cellphones, is it possible to make believable story/remake of Ramji Rao Speaking? A recent remake was made in Punjabi, which surprises me a lot. Suppose Hera Pheri was made in the 2010s or 2020s, will people still like it? Though people started using mobiles by late 1990s, it was not common in year 2000.  Landphones existed. That’s why the movie worked. What is your opinion?

To add, when the original movie was made, mobile phones didn’t exist.  Even when the sequel was made!!! There is an iconic comedy scene in the sequel connecting a phone call, which people still love. You have to watch the movie to know it. Yes, it’s relevant when mobile phones never existed!! (I doubt if that scene was used in Bhagam Bhag. I watched the movie long back, hence I can’t recollect from memory. Even if it has been used, it didn’t connect with audience. That’s how perfectly actor Innocent delivered those dialogues in that iconic scene. He was a true legend!)

I would love to dedicate this post to actor Innocent, who is no longer with us. Without him, perhaps Ramji Rao Speaking or Mannar Mathai Speaking would have never happened….Its Hindi remake too! Even if it was made without him, it would have been totally different.