Jailer 2, the Nelson Dilipkumar directed sequel to the 2023 hit Jailer, starring Superstar Rajinikanth in the lead, hit theatres on October 15, 2026. This time, his Tiger Muthuvel Pandian is pitted against a whole new bunch of villains, like Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Dileep, and the Kalpak family, led by actors Mithu Chakraborthy, SJ Suryah, Vidya Balan, among others. He’s also got his trusted trio of allies – Matthew (Mohanlal), Narasimha (Shivarajkumar) and Kamdev (Jackie Shroff) - alongside him to handle these new obstacles. There’s a new addition here too, with Hrithik Roshan joining in as Roddy, who is willing to drop anything and be by Muthuvel’s side when needed.
Trouble is, this time, all of them got a raw deal as far as screen time goes. And Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, in particular, was left with only a few seconds in the nearly three-hour long film. Even the shot of the actor that was featured in the film’s trailer was left on the chopping board. Naturally, the actor’s fans are far from pleased.
Turns out, Mohanlal had shot for much more than what made its way to the final cut. The actor’s stylist Jishad Shamsudeen is at the forefront of this; he had after all worked on 5 distinct looks for Mohanlal, of which 3 were cut in their entirety, including the one from the trailer. “From my experience in cinema. Trimming scenes involving a superstar like Mohanlal Sir is simple unnecessary. Seeing our superstar reduced like this, if there is a sequel, I will not be a part of it,” he posted on social media.
Mohanlal fans allege that his scenes were chopped because of the leading man’s “insecurities”, and wondered how Tamil audiences would react if the script had been flipped. “Would Kollywood fans ever forgive us? Never ever. That’s exactly what Malayalis feel about Mohanlal’s cameo in Jailer 2”. wrote one. Several others urged Mohanlal to stop doing cameos in films led by other actors. “They cash in on his stardom, make crores and give him nothing meaningful. He deserves better,” was one such comment.
Rajinikanth in Jailer 2
Jailer 2, meanwhile, is expected to start its box office journey with at least a Rs 100 crore worldwide opening. It has received overwhelmingly positive reviews and is expected to do well in its first weekend, even with Vijay Deverakonda’s Ranabaali set to hit theatres a day later on October 16, 2026.
