Hera Pheri

Above a garage in Mumbai three men end up living under one roof: the landlord Baburao, the unemployed Raju and Shyam, who is looking for work. The rent goes unpaid and the phone is about to be cut off. Then a wrong number reaches the flat: a ransom negotiation. Without knowing who is on the other end, the three insert themselves and try to collect the money. The comedy comes not from wit but from all three being worse than each other. Baburao's glasses, his drinking and the way he loses the thread in the middle of a sentence are the heart of it, and the character Paresh Rawal plays became one of the most quoted roles in Indian comedy. Priyadarshan directed, with dialogue by Neeraj Vora. Akshay Kumar plays Raju, Suniel Shetty plays Shyam and Paresh Rawal plays Baburao, with Tabu, Om Puri and Gulshan Grover in the cast. The source is the 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking. It did not work on release; the houses were empty and reviews were mixed. By the time word of mouth brought audiences in, the run had ended in many places. Over the following years it became a cult film through television and home video, and today it counts as a classic of Indian comedy. Who it is for: anyone who likes Indian comedy and films built on lines. Who it is not for: anyone wanting restrained humour. The playing is deliberately broad, it runs long, and some of the jokes are lost in translation.