Akshay Kumar Is Set to Play a Tiger Hunter

Akshay Kumar and director Priyadarshan are reportedly reuniting for a comedy in which the actor plays a tiger hunter. The story first appeared in the Hindustan Times on Oct. 17 and was picked up by India Today and NDTV. Nothing has been announced officially, so every detail below is attributed to those reports.

What is reported

According to the Hindustan Times, as relayed by NDTV and India Today, the untitled film will be Priyadarshan's 99th as director and is produced by Ramesh Taurani. It is expected to go on the floors in the last week of November, with a three-month schedule across wildlife locations in Rajasthan and a set in Mumbai. Bhopal is also being considered as a location.

Annu Kapoor and Rajpal Yadav have reportedly joined the cast. The makers are said to be still looking for a female lead. The script is co-written by Priyadarshan and Rohan Shankar, who also worked together on Bhooth Bangla.

Asked about the project, Priyadarshan stayed guarded. India Today quotes him as saying, "Let the project get locked then I will talk."

The story, as described

NDTV says an earlier Mid-Day report described a comedy-thriller that draws on the life of Jim Corbett, the British-Indian hunter and naturalist, though the story itself is fictional. In that account, Akshay's character begins as a tracker who hunts man-eating tigers and leopards threatening his village. His outlook then shifts as he learns about poaching and the loss of forest habitat, and the film turns toward wildlife conservation.

The reports do not agree on the period. India Today and NDTV's headline say the 1970s. NDTV's summary of the Mid-Day report says the 1960s. We have used neither as settled.

A busy slate

Akshay and Priyadarshan have a long history, from Hera Pheri and Bhagam Bhag to Bhool Bhulaiyaa. India Today notes they recently worked together on Bhooth Bangla, which opened on April 17, 2026, and on Haiwaan, in which Akshay plays the antagonist opposite Saif Ali Khan.

This would be one of several projects reported around Akshay now. NDTV reports that he has wrapped the UK schedule of the sci-fi thriller Samuk, directed by Kanishk Varma, with a final 20-day Mumbai leg to come and a pan-India release planned for 2027. The Times of India, citing Mid-Day, reports that he flew to Dehradun after returning from the UK on Oct. 12 to shoot a song reportedly budgeted at around Rs 1 crore for Anees Bazmee's untitled comedy with Vidya Balan and Raashii Khanna. That film was given a Dec. 4 release date in May, according to The Hindu.

The Times of India also reports, citing Mid-Day, that Akshay and R Madhavan are set to team up for a comedy by Sajid Khan, backed by Ektaa R Kapoor, which could start shooting in London late this year or in early 2027.

Why it matters

Akshay has built a long run of comedies, and a Priyadarshan reunion is the kind of pairing the industry watches. For readers, though, the useful point is simple: this is a report about a film that has no title, no female lead and no shooting date set in stone. Start dates in Hindi cinema move often.

What we could not confirm

We could not confirm the film's title, its period, its full cast or the start date, because no official statement exists. We did not see the original Hindustan Times piece in full and relied on India Today and NDTV for its details. We could not confirm the Rs 1 crore figure for the Dehradun song beyond the Mid-Day report cited by the Times of India. Akshay's team has not commented in the coverage we reviewed.

Sources

*Cover photo: Bollywood Hungama, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akshay_Kumar_in_2022.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akshay_Kumar_in_2022.jpg)* (CC BY 3.0).*