Bollywood star Suniel Shetty has said he is thrilled about Kartik Aaryan joining the "Hera Pheri" franchise and clarified that the actor has not replaced his co-star Akshay Kumar in the upcoming third part. The popular comedy film series revolves around three men Raju (Kumar), Shyam (Shetty) and Babu Bhaiya (Paresh Rawal) who hatch silly plans to make a quick buck.

Last week at an event in Delhi, Kumar confirmed his exit from 'Hera Pheri 3' citing creative differences. Prior to that, Rawal had said the upcoming movie will soon go on the floors with Aaryan taking over the role of Raju. Amid Aaryan's entry in the third installment of the movie, Shetty on Thursday said no one can replace Kumar as the streetsmart Raju. "Kartik Aaryan is a brilliant choice, (but) he is not playing Raju. Kartik is an absolute new character and he will bring amazing energy to the role that he would play."