Nelson Dilipkumar has now made five films as a director, and every one of them has had Anirudh Ravichander as composer. With Jailer 2 in theatres from October 15, the run that started with Kolamaavu Kokila in 2018 has reached its second film with Rajinikanth.
Kolamaavu Kokila (2018): Nayanthara; music by Anirudh
Doctor (2021): Sivakarthikeyan; music by Anirudh
Beast (2022): Vijay, Pooja Hegde; music by Anirudh
Jailer (2023): Jailer with Rajinikanth; music by Anirudh
Jailer 2 (2026): Rajinikanth; music by Anirudh
A director and a composer
The partnership started before Nelson's first release. His planned debut, Vettai Mannan with Silambarasan, was shelved in 2010. Anirudh then helped him make Kolamaavu Kokila, starring Nayanthara. In 2020, Anirudh also introduced Nelson to Vijay, which led to Beast.
The Beast question
Beast drew mixed reviews in 2022, and Rajinikanth has spoken on record about what happened next. At the Jailer audio launch in 2023, he said friends, distributors and exhibitors called him to rethink working with Nelson. "A good director never fails," he said. "The subject that the director takes may fail." He added that Sun Pictures told him Beast had been profitable for them, and the film went ahead.
Nelson's Malayali habit
For Kerala audiences, the more interesting thread is casting. Beast gave Shine Tom Chacko and Aparna Das their Tamil debuts. Jailer brought in Mohanlal as Mathew and Vinayakan as the villain Varman.
Jailer 2 goes further. Suraj Venjaramoodu plays the villain Dileep, Mohanlal returns, and Kottayam Nazeer, Hakim Shahjahan, Shamna Kasim and Rajesh Madhavan are in the cast. Critics have noticed. Read how the Malayali cast fared in the reviews.
