''Jailer'' is an upcoming Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

-language

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written and directed by

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and produced by

Kalanithi Maran Kalanithi Murasoli Maran is an Indian billionaire media mogul who is the chairman and founder of the Sun Group. He owns television channels, newspapers, weeklies, FM radio stations, DTH services, a cricket team (Sunrisers Hyderabad), and a mov ...

Sun Pictures Sun Pictures is an Indian film distribution and production studio based in Chennai, India. It is a unit of Sun TV Network a part of the Sun Group. Founded in 2000, it started producing the TV film ''Siragugal ''Siragugal'' () is an Indi ...

. It stars

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

in the title role, along with

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

Jackie Shroff Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff (born 1 February 1957), popularly known as Jackie Shroff, is an Indian actor and former model. He has been in the Bollywood industry for over four decades, and , has appeared in over 220 films in 13 languages namely Hi ...

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

, Sunil,

Ramya Krishnan Ramya Krishnan (born 15 September 1970), also credited as Ramya Krishna (in the Telugu and Kannada film industries) is an Indian actress. She has appeared in over 260 films in five languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. Ramy ...

Vinayakan Vinayakan T. K. is an Indian actor, playback singer, and composer who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has also appeared in some Tamil language films. He started his career with a cameo appearance in the 1995 film ''Maanth ...

Mirnaa Menon Mirnaa is an Indian actress who acts in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. Early life Mirnaa(Arya Santhosh) was born in Idukki, Kerala. Her father is a businessman. She attended SHHS Ramakkalmettu in Idukki before studying a Bachelor of Engi ...

, and

Tamannaah Bhatia Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Telugu and Tamil films, along with a few Hindi films. In 2005, she made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Hindi fil ...

. 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 Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in August 2022 in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and wrapped in June 2023. The music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, while the cinematography and editing were handled by

Vijay Kartik Kannan Vijay Kartik Kannan is an Indian cinematographer who predominantly works in Tamil film industry. Personal life On 16 March 2022, Vijay married fellow cinematographer Yamini Yagnamurthy after being in a relationship for a few years. Career Vij ...

and R. Nirmal. ''Jailer'' is scheduled to release on 10 August 2023.

Cast

Production

Development

On 10 February 2022,

officially announced their next film starring

and to be directed by

. 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 K. S. Ravikumar (born 30 May 1958) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, primarily working in Tamil films. Career 1990–1997 Ravikumar worked as co-director on R. B. Choudary's production ''Pudhu Vasantham'' direct ...

would be writing the screenplay from a story written by Rajinikanth. Nelson retained his crew from ''

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' (2021) and '' Beast'' (2022), with cinematography by

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 Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

actor

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

would be seen in a pivotal role. That speculation was confirmed the following month. It marks Shiva Rajkumar's debut in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

. In early August,

Vasanth Ravi Vasantha Kumar R, professionally acknowledged as Vasanth Ravi, is an Indian actor born in Chennai on April 18, 1990. He embarked on his artistic journey in the Indian film industry in 2017 with a debut in "Taramani." Vasanth Ravi boasts a div ...

was confirmed to be part of the film. Shortly thereafter, on 10 August,

confirmed her participation, and on 23 August,

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

actor

was confirmed. In July 2022, there were reports suggesting that

Yogi Babu Yogi Babu (born 22 July 1985) is an Indian actor and comedian, who appears in Tamil films. A three time Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award winner, he performed in '' Aandavan Kattalai'' (2016), ''Kolamavu Kokila'' (2018) and ''Pariyerum Perumal'' (20 ...

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

would be acting in the film in an cameo role. Almost two weeks later, Sunil and

were announced as part of the cast. In February 2023,

was announced to be a part of the film.

Filming

Test shoots took place in late July 2022 in

, and

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

was set to commence on 3 August in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. 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 Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

. In January 2023, a small filming schedule began in Jaisalmer. The following month, filming began in

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

with

Sadhu Kokila Sahaya Sheelan Shadrach (born 24 March 1966) known by his screen name Sadhu Kokila, is an Indian musician, actor, comedian, film director and producer, and an occasional screenwriter and lyricist who works in Kannada cinema. He began his care ...

reported to reprise

's role in the Kannada version. In March, the climax of the film was shot at

Athirappilly Falls Athirappilly Falls, is situated in Athirappilly Panchayat in Chalakudy Taluk of Thrissur District in Kerala, India on the Chalakudy River, which originates from the upper reaches of the Western Ghats at the entrance to the Sholayar ranges. ...

, Chalakudy in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. Principal photography was wrapped by 1 June 2023.

Music

The music is composed by

Anirudh Ravichander Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian film scorer music composer music producer singer and instrumentalist who primarily works in Tamil films. He is the son of actor Ra ...

in his third collaboration with Rajinikanth, after '' Petta'' (2019) and '' Darbar'' (2020) and fourth collaboration with Nelson after ''

Kolamaavu Kokila ''Kolamaavu Kokila'' () (abbrev. COCO) is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language black-comedy crime film written and directed by Nelson in his directorial debut, and produced by Lyca Productions. The film stars Nayanthara alongside a supporting cast inc ...

'' (2018), ''

'' (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.

Release

''Jailer'' is scheduled to release on 10 August 2023.

Distribution

The film's

distribution rights have been bought by Gokulam Gopalan.

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

theatrical rights were bought by Asian Cinema, while the overseas rights were acquired by

Ayngaran International Ayngaran International is a film distribution and production company, based in the United Kingdom. Historically, Tamil films from India have been distributed to overseas theaters and for home media consumption by Ayngaran. The chairman of the ...

. The film will be released by MCC Group in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Title dispute

In July 2023, director Sakkir Madathil claimed he registered the title ''Jailer'' first for his Malayalam film in the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) in 2021 and requested producer

to change the title of the film.

References

External links

* {{authority control Films directed by Nelson (director) Films scored by Anirudh Ravichander Indian action comedy films Sun Pictures films Upcoming Tamil-language films