'Akshay Kumar is not a friend!' Paresh Rawal reveals feeling suffocated playing 'Babu Bhaiya' in Hera Pheri!

Veteran actor Paresh Rawal, throughout his career spanning over four decades, has worked in around 240 movies. The 69-year-old actor, who initiated his career in supporting roles and villainous characters, has proven his versatility with time. Currently, the veteran actor is gearing up for the highly-awaited Hera Pheri 3, in which he will be reprising his iconic role of Babu Bhaiya. Well, recently, the 'OMG!' actor revealed feeling suffocated playing 'Babu Bhaiya' in Hera Pheri. Moreover, he also said that Akshay Kumar, with whom he has shared screenspace in multiple movies, is not a friend.

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Paresh Rawal Felt Suffocated Playing Babu Bhaiya!

Paresh Rawal has proven his versatility by taking up different characters with varying shades. With his acting prowess, he has nailed the characters and made them iconic, with 'Babu Bhaiya' from the Hera Pheri franchise being one.

However, during a recent interview with Lallantop, Rawal revealed that he felt suffocated at one time playing Babu Bhaiya.

As shared by the veteran actor, after the portrayal of the iconic role, people started seeing him through the same lens. Though he enjoys the love that comes his way for Babu Bhaiya even after years of portraying the character, there was a time when he felt suffocated.

He said, "Woh gale ka fanda hai (It is like a noose around the neck)."

Must Read: Hera Pheri 3 BEGINS with Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal!

The Sanju actor recalled that after the release of Phir Hera Pheri in 2006, he went to filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj. The actor told the director that he had a film in mind and he wanted him to direct it. He also shared that he wanted to play a different character with Babu Bhaiya's getup as he wanted to break free of the image of the iconic character. The actor was convinced that only Vishal could do it.

When the Haider director inquired about the reason, the Mohra actor said that whoever came to him had Hera Pheri in their minds. As an actor, he didn't want to be stuck in the image.

After Bharadwaj couldn't help him, he went to another ace filmmaker R. Balki, in 2022. He also requested the Paa director to give him a different role in the same getup.

Rawal said, "Mujhe dum ghutta hain (I feel suffocated)."

Akshay Kumar is Not a Friend!

Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal are set to reprise their iconic roles of Raju, Shyam and Babu Bhaiya in Hera Pheri 3. The trio has worked together in multiple movies and not just the Hera Pheri franchise. However, the veteran actor during the interview said that Akshay Kumar is not a friend.

Also Read: Is Tabu making a comeback to Hera Pheri 3 after Gulshan Grover?

Notably, Akshay and Paresh have teamed up for several iconic movies such as Mohra, Aan: Men at Work, Awara Pagal Deewana, Bhagam Bhag, Aankhen, Garam Masala, De Dana Dan, Welcome, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and OMG. However, despite that, Rawal doesn't consider Akki a close friend. Instead, he said, "Film industry mein colleague hote hain, theatre mein dost hote hain, aur school mein jigar jaan dost hote hain. But film ke andar colleague hote hain."