Jailer (2023) on Netflix

NR20232h 45mAction Crime Thriller

Muthuvel Pandian, a retired jailer in Tamil Nadu, lives with his family. His son Arjun, a police officer, is investigating Varman, a gangster who smuggles temple idols. Then Arjun goes missing.

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Netflix3.1/5
IMDb7.2/1046,861 votes
Rotten Tomatoes50%

Trailer

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Plot summary

In Arakkonam, a temple priest is found murdered and the temple's idol has been replaced with a fake. Muthuvel Pandian, a retired jailer, lives in Tamil Nadu with his wife Viji, his son Arjun, Arjun's wife Shwetha and their son Rithvik. Arjun, a police officer, is investigating Varman, a gangster in Arakkonam who steals idols from temples and sells them overseas. Arjun questions Varman's henchman Seenu about the gangster's whereabouts, and then Arjun is gone. The department puts word out that he may have taken his own life under the strain of the job. Muthuvel, who raised his son to be honest and fearless, partly blames himself and goes after Seenu, drawing a taxi driver named Vimal into his plan. When Varman's men come for Rithvik, Muthuvel decides to fight back.

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Jailer (2023)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

In August 2023 the Delhi High Court ordered Jailer's makers to edit or alter scenes showing a contract killer wearing a Royal Challengers Bangalore jersey and making misogynistic comments, after a plea by Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited; the altered version was used from 1 September 2023.
Vasanth Ravi recalled that Mammootty was the original choice to play the gangster Varman in Jailer, but the team felt the character did not suit the actor's stature and decided against casting him; Vinayakan was cast instead.
In July 2023 director Sakkir Madathil said he had registered the title Jailer for his own Malayalam film with the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce in 2021; he asked producer Kalanithi Maran to change the title and filed a legal complaint against Sun Pictures, though both films released under the same title that month.
On 12 November 2023, Jailer became the first Indian film to have a simultaneous television premiere in multiple languages on the same day, broadcast in Tamil on Sun TV, Telugu on Gemini TV, Kannada on Udaya TV and Hindi on Star Gold.
The dialogue 'Inga Naan Thaan Kingu', which Rajinikanth speaks in Jailer and in the song 'Hukum', became so popular that a 2024 film used the same dialogue as its title.
Jailer's title was announced on 17 June 2022, and Rajinikanth was paid ₹110 crore as an advance salary ahead of the film's release.
Nelson Dilipkumar said a main challenge of Jailer was getting people to accept Rajinikanth playing his age, as most industry insiders rejected the idea, but he convinced them it would work.
Editor R. Nirmal said a few extra seconds of Rajinikanth smoking a cigar in Jailer's climax had to be edited out, because the camera was aimed close to the actor holding the cigarette, to follow the CBFC's guidelines.