Rajinikanth’s appearance at the Jailer 2 Super Show turned into a rare look at the gap between his on-screen image and his own sense of self. He had one note for the sequel and one confession about the life he lived before the movies.
The job he still carries
Long before he became a screen icon, Rajinikanth spent five years as a bus conductor in Bengaluru. At the event, he said that period has never really left him.
“I spent five years working as a bus conductor, and even now, I still miss that job. To be honest, I have never really felt like a big superstar.”
He added that seeing a bus still makes him happy, and that no matter what he does, a part of him will always identify as a conductor. For celebrity-watchers, the comment is a reminder that some stars carry their pre-fame identity more strongly than their filmography.
The missing element in Jailer 2
When the conversation turned to the sequel, Rajinikanth had a specific request for director Nelson Dilipkumar. He said the only missing element in Jailer 2 is Tamannaah, and that he had asked Nelson to keep one song for her.
“The only missing element in Jailer 2 is Tamannaah. I told Nelson to keep one song for Tamannaah.”
Nelson’s response was direct: he could not keep a song simply because the superstar liked it. Rajinikanth’s comeback became the moment of the evening. He said that if he had done whatever he liked, he would have become irrelevant and gone back to Bengaluru. He was still in the field, he added, because he was doing what audiences are loving. Given that Tamannaah’s Kaavaalaa became a breakout highlight of the first Jailer, the exchange carries extra weight: the missing element was also the first film’s biggest talking point.
Jailer 2 at a glance
- Jailer 2 releases on October 15.
- Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures.
- The cast includes SJ Suryah, Vidya Balan, Mithun Chakraborty, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Ramya Krishnan, Yogi Babu and Mirnaa.
- Nora Fatehi makes her Tamil debut with the special number Bindaas.
Why this matters
Rajinikanth framed his longevity as a discipline: he follows the audience, not his own taste. That is a useful lens for the sequel. Jailer 2 arrives after a first film that thrived on mass moments and a chartbuster song, so the Tamannaah conversation also signals how closely the team is thinking about what connected with viewers.
For fans, the bigger takeaway may be the humility. A star of his scale still describing himself as a conductor at heart is the kind of detail that makes celebrity coverage feel human, not manufactured.
Source: PINKVILLA
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