India, May 21 -- In a shocking development, actor Akshay Kumar, through his production house, has sent a legal notice to actor Paresh Rawal, claiming Rs.25 crore in damages for unprofessional conduct and leaving the film Hera Pheri 3 in a lurch after signing a legal contract. Reportedly, the lead cast of the film - Akshay aka Raju, Paresh aka Babu Bhaiya and Suniel Shetty aka Ghanshyam - had started shooting for the Priyadarshan directorial in April. Paresh confirmed exiting the cult comedy recently. While the reason wasn't clear, we have learnt that he did not "feel like" being a part of the film. Akshay, who is also the producer of Hera Pheri 3, bought the legal rights from producer Feroz Nadiadwala. After reports cropped up speculating the reason for Paresh's sudden departure, he had clarified that creative differences or money weren't the reasons for the decision. Sources say that the actor was being paid more than thrice his usual fee for the film. "Paresh displayed a blatant disregard for professional integrity or commercial morality. If he didn't want to do the film, he should have said so before signing the legal contract, accepting the signing amount and making the producer spend so much money on the shoot," says a source close to the legal development. "It is high time Indian actors realise that like Hollywood, producers here, too, will no longer give in to the whims of an actor walking in and out of a film as they please," adds the source. Notably, this is the first time in Akshay's 35-year-long career that he has chosen to sue anyone for unprofessional conduct. When we reached out to Paresh, he says, "I am not aware of anything like this yet." Paresh is not new to quitting films, sometimes on a whim. He refused to do OMG 2 (2023) claiming he did not like the script. Also, he walked out of the 2009 film Billu after committing to it, which, too, was a Priyadarshan directorial....