In 1999, "Hera Pheri" was released in Hindi, which for once and all changed the destiny of Priyadarshan in Bollywood. "Hera Pheri", an adaptation of the Malayalam film "Ramjirao Speaking" (1989), was a huge hit at the box office. Starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Tabu and Paresh Rawal, this film is now considered a landmark in the history of Hindi cinema. The film also gave birth to the Priyadarshan-Akshay Kumar team, which in later years produced several hits. After "Hera Pheri", Paresh Rawal became another regular face in Priyadarshan films. This film was followed by a series of films in Hindi including "Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar", "Hungama", "Hulchul", "Garam Masala", and "Kyon Ki". In the year 2000, Priyadarshan directed the Malayalam-Tamil bilingual "Raakilipattu" ("Snegithiye" in Tamil) starring Tabu and Jyothika, with story adapted from the Marathi film "Bindhaast", an experimental film with all female characters, which was critically well received. The original plan was to release both versions simultaneously, but due to unknown reasons the Malayalam version was delayed and the Tamil version released first. The Malayalam as well as the dubbed Hindi version, "Friendship", released only seven years later in 2007. Priyadarshan's English language epic period film titled "The Last Revolutionary" produced by 20th Century Fox, based on the life of Indian freedom fighter Chandrasekhar Azad was supposed begin filming in 2001, but the project was shelved due to unknown reasons. During this period, Tamil actor Kamal Haasan was working on his ambitious film, Anbe Sivam. After finishing the script, Kamal Haasan approached Priyadarshan to direct the film. The pre-production commenced; but after some differences of opinion between the director and the actor; Priyadarshan opted out from the project before the first schedule. This sudden setback led to the whole crew to run out of their schedules. Hence, the producers after convincing Kamal Haasan, quickly roped in Sundar.C to direct the film. Priyadarshan made the comedy film "Kakkakuyil" in 2001, bringing back the old combo of Mohanlal and Mukesh (actor), which was popular in the 1980s and 1990s.