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31st March 2000 – It was the last day of the last financial year of the millennium gone by. 90s was the decade of several romantic movies, many of which were catering to the NRI audiences. Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge had paved the way for many such romantic dramas to follow. There were several action films made too with Akshay Kumar spearheading many such affairs. While he had seen several successes, there were quite a few low points as well. This is when he did Hera Pheri and the film released on that day.
Everything changed post the release of Hera Pheri!
Akshay Kumar demonstrated amazing hold over comedy and showed that he could go beyond action roles as well. Suniel Shetty was fantastic with his deadpan act that raised ample humor. Paresh Rawal was a riot as the Maharashtrian landlord who was perpetually broke. Priyadarshan got a standing for himself in the industry as a prolific maker of several comedies. Firoz Nadiadwala paved the way for several big budget comedies in time to come.
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Incidentally, the film hadn’t taken a fantastic start all over the country. It opened quite well in Mumbai due to the local flavor and also down South as audiences there were quite familiar with Priyadarshan’s work. However, up North it was quite ordinary. In fact the opening day just about managed to cross the 60 lakhs mark, which was low even by standards and ticket rates back then. The film went on to find some momentum over the weekend to come close to the 2 crores but that too couldn’t be termed fantastic since the start was low.