After weeks of speculation about which Bollywood star would join Jailer 2, Variety India has reported that Hrithik Roshan has signed on for a key cameo in director Nelson Dilipkumar’s sequel. The role sets up a reunion four decades in the making: it will be the first time Hrithik and Rajinikanth share the screen since they worked together 40 years ago.
According to the production, Hrithik will be in Chennai for a two-day shoot on June 22 and 23, 2026, preceded by look tests at a private studio. Sun Pictures is said to be designing a new, rugged look for his character. Rather than a brief appearance, his portion is described as an action-heavy turning point in which he steps in to help Rajinikanth’s Tiger Muthuvel Pandian, pushing the story into its final act.
A full-circle reunion
The shoot carries personal weight for both actors. Hrithik first appeared as a child actor in J. Om Prakash’s 1986 Hindi film Bhagwaan Dada, playing Govinda, the foster son of Rajinikanth’s character. Over the years, Hrithik has often recalled how kind the Tamil star was on set — including how, whenever the young boy fumbled a line, Rajinikanth would step in and take the blame himself so the child wouldn’t feel anxious.
The casting came together after earlier talks. Nelson and the studio had reportedly discussed the same sequence with Shah Rukh Khan, but that fell through over scheduling, as Khan turned his focus to King, the film marking his daughter Suhana Khan’s debut. For Hrithik, Jailer 2 is his first shoot since the espionage film War 2 in August 2025.
A stacked line-up of cameos
With Hrithik on board, Sun Pictures is expanding the multi-industry cameo approach that helped the 2023 original become a global hit. The sequel’s special appearances already include Mohanlal, Kannada star Shiva Rajkumar, Vijay Sethupathi and veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty.
The core cast features S.J. Suryah, Ramya Krishnan, Vidya Balan, Mirnaa and Yogi Babu. The main unit wrapped principal photography earlier in the spring across Goa and Kerala, but Nelson added a 25-day patchwork schedule to fit in the cameos and fine-tune the action. With music by Anirudh Ravichander and cinematography by Vijay Kartik Kannan, Jailer 2 is targeting a worldwide release in September 2026, around the Vinayagar Chaturthi season.
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