Actor Akshay Kumar and filmmaker Priyadarshan are all set to collaborate once again for their ninth film together. After working together on several popular films over the years, the duo’s upcoming project will reportedly be a comic thriller set against the backdrop of wildlife conservation.
According to a report in Midday, the yet-untitled film will be set in India during the 1960s and will feature Akshay in a role inspired by legendary hunter-turned-conservationist Jim Corbett. While the story is fictional, the character is said to draw inspiration from Corbett’s life and transformation.
Akshay will reportedly play a skilled hunter and tracker who grows up understanding the forests long before becoming a well-known hunter. His character initially hunts man-eating tigers and leopards that threaten his village but later undergoes a major change in perspective.
A source informed the portal, “Akshay’s character, a hunter and tracker, learns to read the forest long before becoming a famous hunter. He kills several man-eating tigers and leopards that terrorise his village. Later he becomes an advocate of wildlife conservation as he understands the devastating impact of poaching and deforestation, and realises that preserving their habitat is important.”
“After Haiwaan’s release, Priyadarshan and his team will go on a recce in the jungles of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The movie will be shot in a start-to-finish schedule in a forest,” the source added.
The makers are currently searching for the female lead, and no casting announcement has been made yet.
The filmmaker is expected to begin pre-production in October this year, with shooting scheduled to start in January 2027. The entire film is reportedly planned as a single start-to-finish schedule in forest locations.
Who was Jim Corbett?
Jim Corbett, born Edward James Corbett in Nainital, was a British-Indian hunter, tracker, naturalist and author. He became famous for tracking and killing several man-eating tigers and leopards in North India.
Later in life, Corbett emerged as a strong voice for wildlife conservation and played an important role in protecting India’s forests. India’s first national park in Uttarakhand was renamed Jim Corbett National Park in 1957 in recognition of his contribution to wildlife preservation.
