Jailer is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures.

It revolves around "Tiger" Muthuvel Pandian, a retired jailer, seeking to apprehend an eccentric idol smuggler Varman.

Principal photography commenced in August 2022 in Chennai followed with schedules in Cuddalore, Hyderabad, Jaisalmer, Mangalore, Kerala and wrapped by early-June 2023.

While getting close to nabbing Varman, Arjun suddenly goes missing, and the police department covers this up by spreading word that he may have committed suicide due to the stress of the job.

Grieving the loss of his son and partly blaming himself for raising him to be honest and fearless, Muthuvel goes after Seenu and murders him, disposing of the body by coercing a clueless local taxi driver, Vimal, into helping him.

In response, Varman hires a Bihari gangster named Kamdev to send people to kill Muthuvel and his family at his home.

Both of them ultimately compromise: Varman will release Arjun in exchange for retrieving a famous antique crown currently secured in a temple in Mangalagiri.

After various deceptions and with the help of a smuggler in Mumbai called Mathew, Muthuvel eventually comes into possession of the crown and sends it to Varman.

During the filming of Master (2021) in late-2019, Lokesh Kanagaraj reportedly visited Rajinikanth at his residence in Chennai and discussed for a potential collaboration.

[10] However, the COVID-19 pandemic and Rajinikanth's commitments to Annaatthe (2021) supposedly delayed the launch of the film and Lokesh decided to collaborate with Haasan on Vikram (2022).

[11] In December 2021, Nelson Dilipkumar was reported to direct Rajinikanth's 169 film in his lead role, after finishing his commitments to Beast (2022).

[22] Speaking at the Film Companion Directors Adda 2023 roundtable, Nelson felt that one of the main challenges was getting people to accept Rajinikanth playing his age as most of the industry insiders refuted this idea.

He also added that he spent a month to come up with the idea for the interval sequence, where he would show a cool demeanor and set the character to be more interesting, a contrast from Rajinikanth's films.

[30][16] Prior to the commencement of the first schedule, the team constructed a set at the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, where major portions were being planned to be predominantly shot there.

[32] Prominent stylist Aalim Hakim designed the looks and character sketches for Rajinikanth, while Venket Ram photographed the promotional stills.

[44] Vasanth Ravi recalled that Mammootty was the original choice for Varman, but the team felt that the character would not suit the actor's stature; they ultimately decided against casting him.

[53] On 4 May 2023, a video that revealed the film's official release date was unveiled which revealed the remaining cast members: Nagendra Babu, Jaffer Sadiq, Kishore, Billy Muralee, Sugunthan, Karate Karthi, Arshad, G. Marimuthu, Rithvik, Saravanan, Aranthangi Nisha, Mahanadi Shankar and Makarand Deshpande amongst others.

[56] A special set resembling a police station was constructed in a film city in Chennai where few sequences intended to be shot there.

[62][63] After a brief break, in January 2023, the team headed to Hyderabad for filming a major schedule with Rajinikanth and the ensemble cast.

[75] The song "Kaavaalaa" was filmed at this schedule featuring Bhatia and Rajinikanth, amongst others, and was completed on 1 June 2023, which meant that principal photography has been wrapped.

[92] The film's audio launch—which aims to promote the music—took place at Jawarhalal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, and later broadcast on Sun TV.

[98] The film was originally scheduled to be released in April 2023 but was moved to its current date due to the delay in production.

[126] In August 2023, the Delhi High Court ordered the makers to edit or alter scenes depicting a contract killer wearing a Royal Challengers Bangalore jersey and making misogynistic comments, following a plea filed by Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited.

The makers complied with the demands, ensuring that the digitally altered version would be used for all theatrical, television, satellite and streaming releases starting from 1 September 2023.

"[130] Janaki K of India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote "With solid performances and good camera work, Jailer is strictly a theatre watch.

"[131] Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "Jailer might be far from perfect, but with the towering presence of Rajinikanth standing tall along with Nelson’s fortified writing, this is a commendable comeback for both the actor and filmmaker.

"[132] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "[the] Nelson Dilipkumar film is Rajinikanth's version of Kamal Haasan's Vikram, but with a twist.

[136] Divya Nair of Rediff gave the film 3.5/5 stars and stated that "This is an altogether different version of a brutal Rajinikanth, something you and I had probably never imagined before.

[149][150] Film distributor Akshaye Rathi claimed that 65% of Jailer's revenue were attributed to single screens, while 35% of it came from multiplexes.

[168] In January 2024, Nelson had started writing the script for the sequel which is progressing currently,[169] and it was developed under the working title Hukum.