Rajinikanth at Jailer audio launch: 'I was under pressure to fire Nelson after Beast reviews'

Superstar Rajinikanth's speech at the Jailer audio launch was a rousing hit. The hour-long speech covered various aspects of his professional and personal life and also gave unknown behind-the-scenes efforts that went into making Jailer . 

Rajinikanth recalled their first impression of Nelson. It was not his unique comedy sense or filmography that caught his attention, but it was Nelson's tardiness. In a lighter vein, the 72-year-old superstar noted that Nelson made him wait and never seemed to be bothered about it. However, when Rajinikanth heard Nelson's idea for the movie, he liked it very much and gave the go-ahead to develop the full script based on it. At the time, Nelson was still busy shooting for Beast with Thalapathy Vijay. 

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"But, when he came back and gave the full narration, it was excellent. It was 100 times better than his initial pitch," Rajinikanth noted. And Rajinikanth decided to announce the project with Nelson to deter other filmmakers from approaching him. "Hearing stories from young directors, I was frequently inundated with meeting requests. I thought by announcing the movie, other filmmakers would move on to alternative projects," he revealed. 

However, when Beast came out in theatres Rajinikanth had to deal with unforeseen circumstances. "As the reviews for Beast were not good, my friends in the industry advised me to fire Nelson. I was worried about what will happen to Nelson's fledgling career, but the ultimate decision rested with the producers. When I checked with the producers, they informed me that, despite the mixed reviews, Beast was still a commercial success, making profits for producers, distributors and exhibitors," Rajinikanth said. 

And that was exactly what Rajinikanth wanted to hear. The film went on the floors as planned. Rajinikanth revealed that he was very happy with the way the movie has turned out and expressed confidence in the movie's success when it was released in cinemas on August 10. 

Besides Rajinikanth, Jailer also stars Mohanlal, Jackie Shroff, Shiva Rajkumar, Sunil, Ramya Krishnan, Vinayakan, Mirnaa Menon, and Tamannaah Bhatia.