Priyadarshan has made some of the best comedies in Hindi cinema but the director says it none of it would have been possible without the cult success of Hera Pheri, which completes 20 years on March 31. The National award-winning filmmaker was roped in by producer Firoz Nadiadwala for an action film Raftaar, starring action stars Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal, who had a negative image at the time.

Priyadarshan said he was not confident about making an action movie so he decided to go ahead with the script of Hera Pheri, a remake of Malayalam movie 'Ramji Rao Speaking' by Siddique and Lal. At the centre of the film are three men -- the gullible Baburao Ganpatrao Apte (Rawal), con man (Akshay) and unemployed do-gooder (Suniel). They find an answer to all their financial problems when they receive a call from a kidnapper but things don't go as planned.