Rajinikanth’s Jailer and the box-office strategy of superstar cameos

Superstar Rajinikanth’s Jailer is on its way to make history at the box office. The film, which was released on August 10, is said to have collected Rs 23 crore in Kerala alone so far, a new collection record for the Tamil superstar. While there is no denying that Rajinikanth is an absolute crowd-puller, the film’s success can also be attributed to the strategically placed cameos of Malayalam and Kannada superstars Mohanlal and Shiva Rajkumar to attract viewers from across languages. Both Mohanlal and Shiva Rajkumar appear briefly in Jailer as uber-cool gangsters with mass-appeal scenes just like Rajinikanth, much to the excitement of their fans. Besides them, Malayali actor Vinayakan, who has carved his own niche as a versatile performer, plays the villain in the film.

Nelson Dilipkumar, the director of Jailer, had disclosed in an interview that he wanted to cast popular Telugu star Balakrishna in a similar role, which would bring his fans to the movie halls. Telugu actors Sunil and Naga Babu feature in the film, and there is Jackie Shroff who fulfills the void of a Hindi star. While many big films being made in multiple languages are now marketed as ‘pan Indian’ films, Jailer has an ensemble of actors from across languages and this strategy has found immense success. The dubbed Telugu version of Jailer is even said to have outperformed Chiranjeevi’s Bhola Shankar in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

So, it is evident that Nelson wanted a representation of actors from all the popular cinema industries to help the film to reach a wider audience in the states of the respective actors. Going by the success of Jailer, many films are likely to emulate the same formula to attract diverse crowds in the first week itself. But this trend is not entirely new.

Filmmaker SS Rajamouli cast actors Sathyaraj and Nassar in his Baahubali franchise for a good reception among the Tamil audience. He repeated the same strategy in RRR by casting Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn to attract Hindi-speaking audiences. Similarly, in Kamal Haasan’s recent hit film Vikram, Suriya made a sensational cameo as Rolex, which made Suriya fans euphoric. Along with Suriya, the film also had Vijay Sethupathi and Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil, both stars with a big fan following.

According to film trade analyst and movie critic Sreedhar Pillai, this is required to attract crowds in the opening week. “The opening week determines everything, and this is a good strategy to ensure people come to theatres,” he says.  He adds that going forward, this trend will remain a template in many films.

Talking about the success of Jailer in Kerala, Sreedhar says, “The film has earned Rs 23 crore in Kerala alone. Even for a Rajinikanth film, this is a huge number despite getting some negative reviews.” He says that in Kerala, Tamil stars are just as big as Malayalam superstars, but the phenomenal crowd presence is definitely due to Mohanlal and Vinayakan. 

Sreedhar points out that the trend of bringing in stars from other film industries is definitely a post-pandemic effect as film industries are continuing to struggle to break even. The focus on OTT platforms post the COVID-19 lockdowns have been instrumental in acquainting viewers with movies and stars from several languages, and this has also helped filmmakers to expand their reach by targeting a bigger audience by casting popular actors from different parts of the country.

Some of the other recent films which followed this trend are Salman Khan’s Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ka Jaan, and Chiranjeevi’s Godfather, which had a special appearance by Salman Khan. Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming film Jawan will feature Tamil actors Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi in important roles.

This trend is testimony to how filmmakers are trying to adapt to the changing market conditions. They also seem to be apprehensive and do not wish to leave anything to chance.

Film critic Sudhir Srinivasan describes this situation as a “coup.” Talking about the cameos in Jailer, he says, “Regardless of how well integrated these stars are in the film, surely, it must help the business of the film that top actors from their respective industries like Shiva Rajkumar and Mohan Lal agreed to be part of the film. With stars aging, I think it also makes sense to ensure that they are ably assisted in their story missions. And, if you are bringing in someone to assist Rajinikanth, they better be those at the top of their game.”

While Rajini might not need stars from other industries to make his film a success, this is not the first time that his films have had special appearances by other actors. In his 1981 film Ranuva Veeran, Telugu star Chiranjeevi appeared in an important role. “Rajini can always pull in crowds without any special appearances by actors, this is just a cream to top it,” Sreedhar says.

Following the success of Jailer, Nelson has announced that he will be making a sequel to the film, and that more such special appearances can be expected.