Film
Hera Pheri
Other titles called Hera Pheri: the 2000 film.
A wildly entertaining 1976 Bollywood caper about two con artists whose perfectly calibrated partnership gets tested when a gangster threatens to drive a wedge between them. It's a machine of a film: heist plotting, comedy, romance, action—all moving at breakneck speed. For anyone who loves schemes, charm, and the sheer kinetic joy of watching Amitabh Bachchan work.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy con-artist capers where the cleverness is in the grifting and the friendship is the engine, and you don't mind a 1970s Bollywood fondness for melodrama and song.
Skip it if you want a tight, brisk thriller; at nearly three hours with its romance, comic asides and sudden swerves in tone, it wanders more than a lean caper should.
What it asks of you: Settle in for a long unhurried stretch of plot with mood shifting between light banter and heavier drama across its 164 minutes.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Sholay1975
The gold standard of Hindi action cinema: two rogues hired to catch a bandit across a landscape you won't forget. Defines the template that Hera Pheri plays with brilliantly.
But Three and a half hours, and some of the romance subplots move glacially even by 70s standards.
Deewaar1975
Amitabh Bachchan at his magnetic peak, in a family drama with the emotional weight and narrative momentum that made him a star. A masterclass in screen presence.
But Heavy on melodrama and moral stakes; if you want lightness, this won't deliver it.
Charas1976
Another 1976 Bachchan vehicle with the same manic energy and plotting ingenuity—double-crosses, mood swings, a film that refuses to settle into one thing.
But The print quality can be rough, and the pacing occasionally feels like it's outrunning even its own plot.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Hera Pheri
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God1972
Both films hinge on the fracture of a perfectly matched pair. Where Hera Pheri plays it as a con-game thriller, Aguirre makes it apocalyptic—but the architecture is identical: two men, one bond, one betrayal.
Two men bound by ambition and loyalty descending into obsession as everything falls apart around them. A partnership corroding under pressure. Herzog films it like a fever dream.
But German experimental cinema, nearly 50 years old, shot in the Amazon on a budget and logic of its own. Not a narrative you can comfortably follow.
More like this (8)
Don't Look Now1973
Stylish, propulsive crime thriller with a criminal mastermind, a devoted cop, and twists that matter. Influenced everything that came after it.
But Less comedy than Hera Pheri; more nightclub glamour and less wit.
Chupke Chupke1975
Rajesh Khanna in a clever, playful domestic comedy built on practical jokes and intellectual sparring. Proof that Hindi cinema's comic range was deeper than it looked.
But A film about deception between spouses; if you need clear villains or high stakes, the stakes are very personal and small.
Farewell My Concubine1993
Two performers entwined for decades, partnership tested by history and betrayal. A meditation on loyalty, performance, and the gap between who we seem to be and who we are.
But Slow, Chinese cinema of the highest kind; nothing like a Bollywood caper. Some viewers find it remote.
The Sting1973
Newman and Redford in a Depression-era con movie that's all charm and mechanics. Pure entertainment built on the pleasure of watching pros work.
But American 70s cinema moves differently; the pacing and humour won't match Bachchan's kinetic intensity.
Waqt1965
A labyrinthine ensemble drama where multiple families' fates interlock across decades. The grandfather of Bollywood's sprawling all-star dramas.
But The plot can feel needlessly complicated; some threads matter less than others.
Kaala Patthar1979
Amitabh Bachchan as a tough, scarred sea captain in a survival story aboard an oil rig. Shows a different register of his talent—less flash, more grit.
But Slower and more serious than Hera Pheri; disaster films can feel dated in their pacing.
Andaz Apna Apna1994
Spiritual successor: Andaz takes the two-grifter template and cranks every dial to eleven. If Hera Pheri is a tight con, this is the same con told by someone high on the idea of cinema itself.
Two competing con men after the same woman, a crime boss, and each other's throats. Absurdist, joyfully stupid, occasionally brilliant. Aamir Khan and Salman Khan destroy each other with charm.
But The humour is slapstick and manic to the point of anarchy. Plot coherence is not the goal. Some find it exhausting rather than exhilarating.
Trigger2010
Both films ask what happens when friends are forced to choose between loyalty and self-interest. Hera Pheri treats it as a game to survive; Trigger treats it as a wound that doesn't heal. Same question, opposite registers.
A small Malayalam thriller about two men hired for a job, the job's moral cost, and the friendship that doesn't survive it. Utterly unsentimental about partnership and loyalty.
But Malayalam cinema, Malayalam language, intimate scale. No action sequences, no glamour. A chamber piece about complicity and consequence.
People
Cast
Amitabh BachchanVijay
Vinod KhannaAjay
Saira BanuKiran Singh
Goga KapoorGoga
Sulakshana PanditAsha Khanna
Shreeram LagooPolice Commissioner Khanna
Pinchoo KapoorP.K. / Ghanshyamdas
AsraniAsrani (uncredited)
Yunus ParvezDhaniram
Mac MohanMac
Directing
- Prakash MehraDirector
Production
- Satyendra PalProducer
Recommended by
Deewaar, Mera Naam Joker, Amar Akbar Anthony, Chandni, Saajan, Beta, Vidhaata, Khuda Gawah, Insaniyat, Besharam, Faasle, Ram Lakhan, Naseeb, Adalat, Khoon Pasina, Trishul, Charas, Waqt, Shakti, Coolie, Sangam, Padosan, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Rang, Shaan, Yeh Vaada Raha, Bombay Talkie, Aaj Ka Arjun, Bawarchi, Khoon Ka Rishta, Teesri Kasam, Khubsoorat, Bobby, Majboor, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Kalicharan, Shree 420, Do Raaste, Mere Apne, Teesra Kaun, Asli Naqli, Baseraa, Dil Daulat Duniya, Mr. & Mrs. '55, Yaarana, Fakira, Anari, Maa, Mahaan, Dost, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Dostana, The Great Gambler, Andaz, Dharmatma, Zakhmi Aurat, Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, Prem Granth, Anuraag, Kaalia, Qurbani, Satte Pe Satta, Gharana, Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, Chhoti Si Baat, Barsaat Ki Raat, Manzil, Khandan, Baton Baton Mein, Ram Balram, Aa Gale Lag Jaa, Kali Ghata, Laila-Majnu, Imaandaar, Sharmeelee, Loafer, Devata, Ajanabee, Dus Numbri, Nikaah, Karz, Johny Mera Naam, Loha, Namak Halaal, Chameli Ki Shaadi, Shor, Daag, Mili, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Kalyug, Inkaar, Mahal, Prem Geet, Bandh Darwaza, Insaniyat