Bhumi Pednekar Boards Priyadarshan’s 99th Film With Akshay Kumar

Bhumi Pednekar has officially boarded Priyadarshan’s 99th directorial venture, joining Akshay Kumar in an untitled film that trades contemporary settings for the rugged charm of 1970s India. The confirmation ends weeks of speculation about who would lead the project alongside Kumar, and it reunites a pair that has already delivered two crowd-pleasers.

A pairing with box-office history

Pednekar and Kumar first clicked in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha in 2017 and returned with the family drama Raksha Bandhan in 2022. This new film is their third collaboration, and it arrives after a four-year gap. Because the project is an action-packed comedy thriller, it should give both actors room to mix suspense beats with the broad humour Hindi film audiences associate with them.

The 99th-film lowdown

• The milestone: It is Priyadarshan’s 99th directorial outing.
• The leads: Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar.
• The setting: A 1970s action-comedy thriller; Kumar is reportedly playing an eccentric tiger hunter.
• The producer: Ramesh Taurani.
• The ensemble: Rajpal Yadav and Annu Kapoor.
• The start: Principal photography begins in the last week of November.

A vintage Priyadarshan canvas

The director and Kumar have already made Hera Pheri, Bhagam Bhag and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, so this reunion leans on a shared comic language. The production is going all out to recreate retro India, with raw wildlife pockets in Rajasthan, studio setups in Mumbai and outdoor stretches around Bhopal. A three-month schedule suggests the team is aiming for scale rather than a quick wrap.

For audiences, that matters. Priyadarshan’s films with Kumar have tended to live on in clips and re-runs, which gives the new title a built-in recall factor. A 1970s backdrop also unlocks a different visual grammar: vintage costumes, old-school wildlife adventure, and a slower, more physical style of comedy.

Why Bhumi’s entry matters

After earning praise for the grittier streaming drama Daldal, Pednekar is stepping back into broad, period-flavoured comedy. That shift suits Priyadarshan’s signature situational chaos and keeps the film from feeling like a one-man star vehicle. Add the seasoned comic ensemble and the 1970s period design, and the 99th film starts to look like an event built on familiarity rather than a wild gamble.

Plot details are still scarce, but the casting is no longer a rumour. The leading lady is locked, the shoot is dated, and Priyadarshan’s milestone project is officially in motion.

Source: Filmfare