Superstar Rajinikanth’s Jailer 2, may have tasted success at the global and Indian box office, but discontent over the trimmed role of one of its key actors has seemingly reached a tipping point.
The Malayalam screen legend, who played Mathew—a gangster who helps Muthuvel Pandian, the protagonist portrayed by Rajinikanth—in Jailer (2023), reprised his role in the sequel. While fans appreciated Mohanlal’s role in the first part as it was meaty and had adequate screen time, sentiment soured as the sequel released on October 15 this year.
Not only was Mathew’s role shorter in Jailer 2, fans even pointed out that moments teased in its trailer were also not present in the version that hit theatres.
Antony Perumbavoor, a long-time associate of Mohanlal as well as his confidant and business partner, gave voice to that discontent. At the launch of Mohanlal’s next movie in Kochi last week, tentatively titled L368, Perumbavoor said in Malayalam: “That isn’t (something) happy for us Malayalis. We share that unhappiness too.”
The comments hinted that the decision to downsize Mohanlal’s role in the final cut came as a shock to them.
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— Morvin Edward (@morvinedward) October 30, 2026
Mohanlal has maintained a studious silence ever since the film, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by the Indian media mogul Kalanidhi Maran, released and collected nearly Rs 7.9 billion globally till date, according to data from the box office tracker Sacnilk.
Adding to the chatter was the fact that the Drishyam and Thudarum actor’s official social media handles have yet to share updates of Jailer 2.
Body double sparks angst
As if all of this wasn’t enough, Joby Kodakara, a mimicry artiste and a body double for Mohanlal in the movie, sparked another controversy by posting images of him dressed as Mathew on the release day.
This led to speculation that Mohanlal may have been replaced while filming the climax of the movie. Kodakara deleted his post, and eventually clarified that his contribution to the final cut of Jailer 2 didn’t exceed more than a couple of shots of his arms and legs, especially in the climax.
In an interview to the Malayalam YouTube channel Jango Space TV, Kodakara even issued an apology saying that his social media post violated professional ethics.
In the interview, which has logged more than 506,000 views in the 12 days since it went online, Kodakara also clarified that no face shot of his made it to the final cut. “My face has not been used in the film,” he said, adding that body doubles aren’t deployed where close-up shots are needed.
It was left to Chethan D’Souza, the action director of Jailer 2, to quell the speculation that Mohanlal didn’t film in the climax. “It’s him,” he wrote on Instagram in response to a question on whether a body double was used to film the portion.
Jailer narrates how ‘Tiger’ Muthuvel Pandian, a retired-but-righteous jailer, deals with the sudden disappearance of his son Arjun, a police inspector and how he goes about avenging a loss. The movie also featured the actors Shiva Rajkumar, Jackie Shroff, Vinayakan and Sunil in key roles. The sequel takes off from where the first instalment ended, with newer enemies emerging.
Jailer 2 features an ensemble cast, including Hrithik Roshan, SJ Suryah, Vidya Balan, Mithun Chakraborty, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Ramya Krishnan, Yogi Babu and Mirnaa Menon. Anirudh Ravichander composed its music.
Source: Khaleej Times