Jailer: Director Nelson gives Mohanlal career-best sequence

Superstar Rajinikanth’s first release in two years, Jailer, has got off to a phenomenal start. The film has been getting good reviews from all quarters, with pretty much everyone agreeing that it is an out-an-out Rajinikanth fan pleaser. What audiences are also in agreement about are just how effective the cameos that director Nelson has introduced in the narrative are for the greater good of the film. Jailer has two note-worthy cameos, one by Kannada star Shivarajkumar and another by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal.

Read: Jailer Twitter reviews: Ultimate comeback; an out-and-out Rajinikanth show, say netizens

Mohanlal plays a character called Mathew in the Nelson directorial and fans have been saying that the filmmaker has been able to give the actor one of his career best sequences in Jailer. “Lalettan appears in the climax for about 7 minutes in an earth-shattering sequence,” said a fan. The actor’s cameo had the same effect, if not better, as his appearance as Khureshi Ab’raam in Lucifer, many felt. Netizens have been praising the actor’s costume, swag, the lines he says, and, of course, Anirudh’s background score for his character’s entry.

While audiences are loving the cameos, the ultimate pay-off, they say, would have been if Rajinikanth, Mohanlal and Shivarajkumar were together in one frame. The cameos, apart, Vinayakan’s antagonist role is also receiving a lot of praise. The Malayalam actor came across as a worthy opponent for Rajinikanth’s Tiger Muthuvel Pandian.

Read our review: This Rajinikanth movie is an enjoyable and pure fan service

Jailer, which had phenomenal advance bookings even at higher ticket rates in places like Bengaluru, is expected to be the Tamil film with the biggest opening this year. Early estimates, as per box-office tracking site Sacnilk, is that the film will gross a tad under Rs 50 crore on day 1. While about half of it is coming from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka is expected to contribute about Rs 10-11 crore. The film has had a good opening in Kerala also, where shows/screens are expected to be increased in the coming days. In the Hindi belt, though, with OMG2 and Gadar 2 releasing on August 11, Jailer is unlikely to have much of an impact. However, in Andhra Pradesh, Chiranjeevi’s Bholaa Shankar is coming out tomorrow, which may eat into Jailer’s box office.