In the Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan-produced 2005 supernatural thriller ‘Kaal,’ Ajay Devgn played a sinister guide responsible for the mysterious deaths of tourists visiting the jungle to hunt wild animals. The film, which also featured John Abraham, Vivek Oberoi, Esha Deol, and Lara Dutta, received mixed reviews but managed to achieve moderate success at the box office. Now, two decades later, Devgn is set to return to the jungle — not for a ‘Kaal’ sequel (thankfully), but for a new action-adventure drama.

PeepingMoon.com has exclusively learned that Devgn will travel to the dense jungles of Ooty for ‘Mission Mangal’ director Jagan Shakti's film ‘Ranger.’ The ‘Singham’ star will commence shooting in the last week of March, portraying the role of Ranger Singh, a rookie forest officer tasked with combating the brutal crimes of animal poaching. Sanjay Dutt, who plays the antagonist, is expected to join the sets at a later date. Production details are currently hush-hush, but the film is expected to be wrapped up by September, with a theatrical release planned for mid-2026.

Produced by Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg, ‘Ranger’ is based on the 2018 book of the same name by Aseem Arora and Richa Ganesh. Arora, also a renowned screenplay writer with credits including ‘Malang,’ ‘Chhalaang,’ ‘Freddy,’ and ‘Vedaa,’ has adapted the book himself. Planned to be shot on a massive scale across India and abroad, the film looks to be a mainstream commercial action-adventure drama set in an exhilarating world that intertwines high-octane action with the emotional depth of wildlife and nature conservation.

Before diving into ‘Ranger,’ Devgn will complete patchwork filming for ‘Raid 2’ alongside Vaani Kapoor in the first week of March. He is also expected to begin shooting for Indra Kumar's much-awaited ‘Dhamaal 4,’ but timelines for that project are still work-in-progress. Devgn will apparently juggle the filming of ‘Ranger’ and ‘Dhamaal 4’ just like how he has been shooting ‘Raid 2,’ ‘De De Pyaar De 2,’ and ‘Son of Sardaar 2.’

Looking ahead, Devgn will be seen in three consecutive sequels this year. He begins with Raj Kumar Gupta’s ‘Raid 2’ on May 1 and will follow that with ‘Son of Sardaar 2’ on July 25, before ending 2025 with ‘De De Pyaar De 2’ on November 14. Also in the pipeline is the much-awaited ‘Drishyam 3’ that goes on floors in August. ‘Dhamaal 4,’ ‘Ranger’ and ‘Drishyam 3’ are all targeting theatrical release in 2026.