It's official! Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal will return for Hera Pheri 3

The long overdue third instalment of the Hera Pheri franchise is finally set to roll after filmmaker Indra Kumar was roped in to direct it.

As fans were hoping, the film will bring the hilarious trio of Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal back together.

Confirming this, Indra Kumar posted on Twitter: "This is going to be a fun project with a stellar star cast."

The shooting is expected to begin in December this year and the filmmakers are eyeing a release date in the second half of 2019.

Indra Kumar has earlier directed comedies like the Dhamaal (2007) series, Masti (2004) and, most famously, Dil (1990), the romantic comedy starring Aamir Khan and Madhuri Dixit.

Hera Pheri (2000) was a remake of the 1989 Malayalam cult classic Ramji Rao Speaking. The Hindi remake was directed by Priyadarshan. Actor-writer Neeraj Vora helmed the sequel, Phir Hera Pheri (2006).

Vora was to direct the third film too, but Akshay Kumar, who played the lead with Suniel Shetty in the first two films, opted out.

Vora then looked to sign John Abraham, but the beefy star also backed out. Next on the horizon was Abhishek Bachchan, who arrived for the shooting in Dubai but quit the project after the first day, as he was reportedly unhappy to find that the script was not yet complete.

Thereafter the project came to a standstill as Vora suffered brain haemorrhage and went into a coma. He died in December last year.

Producer Feroz Nadiadwala must be hoping there are no further hiccups and Hera Pheri 3 comes out smoothly.