Ever since actor Akshay Kumar confirmed the news of him stepping back from the Hera Pheri franchise, social media has been buzzing with the ‘No Akshay, No Hera Pheri’ trend, initiating conversation around the viability of taking forward such franchises without actors redeeming their iconic characters. And, according to people from the industry, getting the original cast is always the best bet.

Last week, Kumar confirmed that he is moving away from the Hera Pheri instalment due to some creative issues. Sometime back, there were reports suggesting that actor Salman Khan had distanced himself from the No Entry sequel.

Actor Suniel Shetty, one of the leads in the film, is upset about the new development. He says, “I am not happy about it. It hurts. 14 saal kaat liye, uske baad bhi problem ho toh it hurts. We need to sit and talk. And Kartik is not playing Akshay’s character. That is a completely different character that is coming to the movie.”

Whereas, actor Paresh Rawal, who has also been part of the movie franchise, says, “Audience ko kuch naya milega Hera Pheri 3 mein... However, commercial decisions about who to bring back are made by producers, writers and directors. I prefer not to think about it.”

On the other hand, actor Tusshar Kapoor uses the example of the Golmaal franchise to stress that having an original cast for a franchise is important, saying, “I don’t know about the commercial viability, what will happen or not. But director Rohit Shetty was the star of the franchise for us, and I can only hope he casts us all together if he is planning to go forward.”

However, when it comes to starting a new chapter with new faces in the franchise universe, the past examples highlight that it comes as a big gamble, with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 with Kartik Aaryan turning out to be a success but Race 3 (2018) with Salman Khan tanking at the box office.

Producer Ramesh Taurani, known for backing projects such as Race, Raaz and Ishq Vishk, asserts: “Yes, stakes are higher when revisiting projects without their faces, but a script is the only way to evade it.”

However, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 director Anees Bazmee believes that focusing on nostalgia while retaining the essence of the previous instalment is also a viable option, and that it worked for him.

Firstly, I have to say that Hera Pheri without Akshay is unthinkable. The film is identified with its characters, so it will be fantastic to see them back because these characters have remained in the minds of audiences. So, getting the original cast is the best scenario.

When it comes to commercial viability, makers always prefer to get the original cast back. Sometimes, the makers wait for a long time for the original cast, but if they find a safe alternative, they want to go ahead and explore it. Safe is the key word here.