Pradeep Ranganathan to Turn Director Again in 2026

Today, Pradeep Ranganathan is one of the leading stars of Tamil cinema, delivering a hat-trick of ₹100 crore films with Love Today, Dragon, and Dude. However, he began his career as a director. He initially made short films, often acting in them himself, before entering the film industry.

Pradeep made his feature film directorial debut with Comali, starring Jayam Ravi and Kajal Aggarwal. The film turned out to be a hit and gave him a strong foothold in the industry.

His second directorial, Love Today, was adapted from a short film he had made earlier. The feature film marked his debut as a lead actor. Love Today became a massive box office blockbuster and turned Pradeep into an overnight star, leading to several acting offers from producers and directors.

He then acted in Dragon, directed by Ashwath Marimuthu, followed by Dude, directed by Keerthiswaran. All three films featuring him as the lead crossed the ₹100 crore mark at the box office.

His upcoming film is LIK, directed by Vignesh Shivan, and is scheduled for release in early 2026. Following this, Pradeep Ranganathan will return to direction with a project that is said to be one of his long-cherished dream ventures, which he has been working on for several years. He will also play the lead role in the film. Reportedly, Pradeep had once approached Thalapathy Vijay with the same script, but the project did not materialise for undisclosed reasons.

Producer Archana Kalpathi of AGS Entertainment, who produced Love Today and Dragon, recently confirmed that Pradeep Ranganathan’s next directorial will go on floors in 2026 and is also slated for release the same year. In 2025, Pradeep had two releases, Dragon and Dude. In 2026, he is set to have two releases as well, LIK and his upcoming untitled directorial.