Bazmee loses out to Bachan

He was the king of slapstick comedy. With films like No Entry, Welcome and Singh Is Kinng to his name, Anees Bazmee was the undisputed ruler of the box office when it came to humour.

However, after two failed ventures (Thank You and Ready) and a wrong decision (one that seemed right at the moment) the director seems to have hit a rough patch.

Mirror has learnt that the sequel to Hera Pheri that was supposed to be directed by Bazmee has changed hands. Neeraj Vora, who directed Hera Pheri 3 (titled De Dana Dan), will take over the latest project of the successful franchise.

Confirming the news, Bazmee told Mirror, "I am not directing Hera Pheri 4." When we asked him the reason, he simply told us, "The star cast has changed. Akshay and all are not there."

However, initially Bazmee was rather excited about directing Hera Pheri 4 and had even completed the script. The film had been announced with Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh in the lead roles replacing Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty. Nana Patekar was supposed to take over from Paresh Rawal.

But later after Players released and tanked, Bazmee was no longer confident about directing his film with Abhishek's bankability and the film was put in the freezer. "But now, the intitial response to Junior B in Rohit Shetty's Bol Bachchan has been favourable. So Bazmee was keen to revive the project," revealed a source close to the project.

However, Abhishek no longer wants to be directed by Bazmee. "Abhishek told the producer Firoze Nadiadwala that he doesn't want to work with Anees. Firoze called up Neeraj and asked him to direct the project. But Bazmee has written the script so he may be given the credit for it," said the source.

According to the source, Bazmee is rather close to the producer and may get to direct the sequel to Welcome, titled Welcome Back.

When contacted, producer Firoze Nadiadwala decided to be elusive and said, "Nothing is finalised. By the end of June we will have complete clarity."

Mirror has learnt that the sequel to Hera Pheri that was supposed to be directed by Bazmee has changed hands. Neeraj Vora, who directed Hera Pheri 3 (titled De Dana Dan), will take over the latest project of the successful franchise.