Jailer Movie is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language black comedy-action film written and directed by Nelson and produced by Kalanithi Maran of Sun Pictures. It stars Rajinikanth in the title role, along with Mohanlal, Jackie Shroff, Shiva Rajkumar, Sunil, Ramya Krishnan, Vinayakan, Mirnaa Menon, Tamannaah Bhatia, and Vasanth Ravi.
The film was officially announced in February 2022 with the working title Thalaivar 169, being the 169th film of Rajinikanth, while the official title Jailer was announced in June. Principal photography began in August 2022 in Chennai and wrapped in June 2023. The music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Vijay Kartik Kannan and R. Nirmal.
Jailer is scheduled to release on 10 August 2023.
Cast
- Rajinikanth as “Tiger” Muthuvel Pandian
- Mohanlal as Mathew
- Jackie Shroff
- Shiva Rajkumar as Narasimha
- Sunil
- Ramya Krishnan as Muthuvel’s wife
- Vinayakan
- Mirnaa Menon as Arjun’s wife
- Tamannaah Bhatia
- Vasanth Ravi as Arjun, Muthuvel’s son
- Naga Babu
- Yogi Babu
- Jaffer Sadiq
- Kishore
- Billy Muralee
- Sugunthan
- Karate Karthi
- Mithun
- Arshad
- G. Marimuthu
- Namo Narayana
- Rithvik as Arjun’s son
- Ananth
- Saravanan
- Aranthangi Nisha as G. Kanagalakshmi
- Mahanadi Shankar
- Kalai Arasan
- Uday Mahesh
- VTV Ganesh
- Redin Kingsley
Production
Development
On 10 February 2022, Sun Pictures officially announced their next film starring Rajinikanth and to be directed by Nelson. As Rajinikanth’s 169th film, it was tentatively titled Thalaivar 169. The title Jailer was announced on 17 June 2022, with the posters revealing Nelson as the sole writer, dismissing earlier reports that K. S. Ravikumar would be writing the screenplay from a story written by Rajinikanth. Nelson retained his crew from Doctor (2021) and Beast (2022), with cinematography by Vijay Kartik Kannan and editing done by R. Nirmal.This also marks the first collaboration of Nelson with Rajinikanth.
Casting
In May 2022, there were reports suggesting that Kannada actor Shiva Rajkumar would be seen in a pivotal role.That speculation was confirmed the following month. It marks Shiva Rajkumar’s debut in Tamil cinema. In early August, Vasanth Ravi was confirmed to be part of the film. Shortly thereafter, on 10 August, Ramya Krishnan confirmed her participation,and on 23 August, Malayalam actor Vinayakan was confirmed.In July 2022, there were reports suggesting that Yogi Babu would be a part of the film.That speculation was confirmed on 24 August 2022 by Sun Pictures. On 6 January 2023, it was announced that Mohanlal would be acting in the film in a cameo role. Almost two weeks later, Sunil and Tamannaah Bhatia were announced as part of the cast.In February 2023, Jackie Shroff was announced to be a part of the film.
Filming
Test shoots took place in late July 2022 in Chennai,and principal photography was set to commence on 3 August in Hyderabad. However, the start of filming was indefinitely delayed due to a strike in Hyderabad which was expected to last at least three weeks. Filming ultimately began on 22 August in Chennai.By October, filming was also taking place in Cuddalore. In January 2023, a small filming schedule began in Jaisalmer. The following month, filming began in Mangalore with Sadhu Kokila reported to reprise Yogi Babu’s role in the Kannada version.In March, the climax of the film was shot at Athirappilly Falls, Chalakudy in Kerala. Principal photography was wrapped by 1 June 2023.
Music
The music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander in his third collaboration with Rajinikanth, after Petta (2019) and Darbar (2020) and fourth collaboration with Nelson after Kolamaavu Kokila (2018), Doctor (2021), and Beast (2022).The first single titled “Kaavaalaa” was released on 6 July 2023. The second single titled “Hukum – Thalaivar Alappara” was released on 17 July 2023.The third single titled “Jujubee” was released on 26 July 2023. The album featuring 8 tracks was released on 28 July 2023.The fourth single titled “Rathamaarey” was released on 26 July 2023
