23 March,2026 12:36 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Hera Pheri 3`s cast
The highly awaited comedy Hera Pheri 3 has encountered a major legal hurdle after a South Indian production house moved the Madras High Court, claiming that it holds the copyright to the franchise, not producer Firoz Nadiadwala.
In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, producer Vijay Kumar of Seven Arts International, which is contesting Nadidawala's claim to the rights, asserted that Nadidawala is deliberately trying to 'delay legal proceedings.'
Opening up about the legal battle, Kumar reiterated that he holds the rights to the franchise and accused Nadiadwala of making Hera Pheri 2 without obtaining authorisation too.
"We have the total rights for Hera Pheri franchise, clean and clear, everything. This man did the second instalment without permission. After the second film, he also announced a third one. That's when we became aware of the situation and wrote to him, but he kept avoiding us. Eventually, we had to approach the court, and the court has made it very clear that the rights are with us⦠We had only given a one-time remake right for the Hindi version. He made that, but then proceeded with a second film without our knowledge. For whatever reason, we didn't pursue that matter at the time. However, when he attempted a third film, we issued a notice stating clearly that he has no rights, and even the second film was a violation," Vijay said.
He added, "For the third instalment, he did not respond positively. Instead, he was trying to sell or transfer it to a third party. That's when we approached the court and filed an IPR case. He has appeared in court, but continues to delay proceedings. I am not sure what he is trying to achieve, but the court has been very clear that the rights are with us, and we are confident of getting that order as well."
For the unaware, Hera Pheri is a remake of the Malayalam film Ramaji Rao Speaking. Seven Arts International says that it purchased the full rights to the original Hera Pheri franchise from the makers. According to Seven Arts, the deal gave it exclusive ownership of the story and all related films, including future instalments. The company contends that Nadiadwala was only authorised to make one Hindi remake of the original Malayalam film.
The dispute escalated when Nadiadwala reportedly sold rights for Hera Pheri 3 to actor Akshay Kumar's company, Cape of Good Films, a move Seven Arts says was invalid since he did not legally own those rights to begin with.
The production house is now asking the court to recognise its copyright and block any further use of the Hera Pheri brand without its consent.
In response, Cape of Good Films said it acquired the rights under the belief that Nadiadwala was the legitimate owner. Nadiadwala has not publicly responded to the allegations, and director Priyadarshan has said he is unaware of the legal dispute.
