Actor Paresh Rawal has become widely recognised for his portrayal of Baburao in the popular ‘Hera Pheri’ film series. During a recent podcast with Raj Shamani, Rawal spoke candidly about how the immense popularity of Baburao has often overshadowed his other notable roles. While he values the affection audiences have for the character, Rawal admitted that the constant demand to play Baburao in the same manner has become a challenge for him, and the repetition “bores” him.
Reflecting on his experiences, Rawal revisited comments from a previous interview where he described feeling restricted by Baburao’s success. He remarked, “What happens is that just to please people, you keep churning out the same thing. When Raju Hirani made ‘Munnabhai MBBS’, the same characters were seen in different backdrops, and people enjoyed watching that.”
Rawal further questioned the lack of variety in portraying such a well-liked character. He said, “When you have huge characters with a goodwill of 500 crores, why don’t you take a risk and fly? Why are you stagnant? My contention was to do the character in different ways because we have an audience for it. If you give up your own advantage, what’s the point? We should not just keep doing the same thing. Baburao’s role dominates over many other good characters I have played; it is more affable.”
The actor pointed out that Baburao’s reach extends beyond his own expectations, sometimes even surpassing other iconic figures. Rawal shared, “I am told Baburao is more popular than RK Laxman. I feel bad when intelligent people churn out the same thing. I am bored because of this. The character has a tremendous scope; you will believe everything Baburao says.”
Despite Baburao’s widespread popularity, Rawal has deliberately avoided accepting similar roles that imitate the character. He explained, “I have always said no to playing caricatures of Baburao. The demand keeps coming; everybody wants to cash in on it. Legally, it’s Firoz Nadiadwala’s property, so I cannot play the character legally in any other person’s film, so it’s a virtue out of helplessness.”
He stated that although offers keep coming for versions of Baburao, he prefers not to dilute the impact by repeated imitation.
The actor is set to reprise his role as Baburao for the upcoming film ‘Hera Pheri 3’, after previously stepping away from the project due to creative differences. He has since rejoined the production, which is scheduled to begin filming early next year.
‘Hera Pheri 3’ will also feature Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty returning to their roles as Raju and Shyam, respectively. The new instalment continues the story of the much-loved trio, promising to bring Baburao back to fans once again.
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