The successful Bollywood comedy franchise Hera Pheri-brought to life by the characters Raju, Shyam, and Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, aka Babu Bhaiya-has been loved by fans across the globe for over two decades.

When Paresh Rawal, who played Apte in the film, recently confirmed he would not be a part of Hera Pheri 3, fans weren't the only ones left heartbroken. The news came as a "big blow" to actor Suniel Shetty, who played the calm and collected Shyam, in the classic comedy.

Shetty, while speaking to ANI, expressed his "shock" over Rawal's exit, and said he was left "completely heartbroken".

"I mean, it's an absolute shock to me, and I'm here because I heard it yesterday, and then today, some more news came about," Shetty said. "So, I need to call and find out, and I'm completely heartbroken because if there was one film that I was looking forward to, it was Hera Pheri, you know."

Shetty also made it clear that he feels a third instalment cannot happen without Babu Bhaiya (brother).

"... It can have 1 per cent chance without me and Akshay (Kumar), but 100 per cent can't happen without Paresh ji.. it doesn't work," he said.

Last week, Rawal posted a note on X to confirm that he won't be part of the third instalment and clarify that his exit wasn't due to any creative disagreement.

"I wish to put it on record that my decision to step away from Hera Pheri 3 was not due to creative differences," he wrote on X.

Directed by Priyadarshan, Hera Pheri was released in 2000. The second part, which came out in 2006, was directed by the late Neeraj Vora. It featured Kumar, Rawal, Shetty, Bipasha Basu, Rajpal Yadav, and Rimi Sen in the lead.

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