Jailer: Was Mohan Babu the first choice to play the antagonist ahead of Vinayakan?

Jailer, Nelson Dileepkumar’s redemption saga, headlined by Rajinikanth, has opened to overwhelming responses from audiences across the globe. While offering enough scope for several fan-pleasing moments, Nelson managed to tell a story that’s entertaining, emotional and is loaded with stylised action sequences. One of the major successes in Jailer is the casting of the villain - Vinayakan.

While Vinayakan needs no introduction among Malayalam viewers, Jailer has done well to introduce the fine talent to audiences of other languages. However, the Malayalam actor wasn’t the first choice to play the villain. Rajinikanth himself confirmed this at the audio launch of Jailer and hinted how a leading ‘South’ star was to be cast as Varman.

Going by Rajinikanth’s speech , one’s quite tempted to assume that the star was referring to none other than Mohan Babu as his first choice. The veteran had begun his career by playing antagonist role and slowly made a mark as a lead actor, producer too. With his experience, unique dialogue delivery and body language, there’s no doubt about his worth as a performer.

Also read: Does Jailer Bring Back Rajinikanth & Nelson's Mojo? The Answer's Complicated 

The star suggested a few practical constraints came in the way of his casting in Jailer. Mohan Babu and Rajini have been great friends for many years now and the latter even played a key role in the Telugu star’s Peda Rayudu without charging any remuneration. If one goes back in time and revisits Rajini’s words during Jailer’s audio launch, the dots connect perfectly.

Rajinikanth had felt the villain’s character either had to be played by a star or a newcomer. If someone who’s used to such roles is cast in it, there won’t be much impact, he opined. “Nelson himself came up with a name - a huge South star, who happens to be my good friend - and I felt it was a brilliant choice. Nelson had asked me to approach him directly because I knew him well,” the Jailer star said.

Meanwhile, there was a week long break before the narration to the ‘star’ and the actor, director started having second thoughts. “Given the image of the star in consideration, we thought it won’t give us enough freedom to deal with the character and there will be practical constraints. Nelson had similar thoughts. I informed the star myself to excuse us and that the decision wasn’t working out; he was okay with it.” All’s well that ends well - isn’t it?

Also read: Jailer: Sunil and Tamannaah’s subplot has left the audiences divided