ViralWhyJailer 2
Action comedy · released 15 Oct 2026 · Telugu version of the Tamil film · Sun Pictures
Telugu commenters love it. Critics enjoy the first half, not the second. Critics rate it 2 to 4 out of 5: almost all of them praise the comic first half and Anirudh's score, and fault a predictable second half and flat cameos. Of 151 Telugu comments that give a view of the film, 134 are positive, though only 47 clearly say they watched it, and much of the praise is pushback under mixed and negative reviews.
What people liked
What they did not
Vote and see the live meters →Cast: Rajinikanth, S. J. Suryah, Ramya Krishnan, Vidya Balan · Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar
Box office
| Figure | What it is |
|---|---|
| ₹755.5 Cr | worldwide gross |
| ₹423 Cr | India net |
| ₹80.3 Cr | Telugu version, India net |
| ₹240–300 Cr | reported budget (press report, The Week) |
day 14, to 28 Oct · tracker estimates, gross is not the producer's share · Sacnilk
Critic reviews
| Critic | Verdict | In brief |
|---|---|---|
| Pinkvilla Goutham S | 4.0/5 | Sees a crowd-pleasing sequel that may top the original: well-placed cameos, Anirudh's score and Hrithik's entry outweigh sluggish world-building and patchy VFX. |
| Koimoi Trisha Gaur | 3.5/5 | Rajinikanth's presence and the comic first half carry it, but an overcrowded, underwritten villain group weakens the second half and lowers the stakes. |
| Deccan Herald Arun Antony | 3.0/5 | Tighter and funnier than the first film, with a standout Suraj Venjaramoodu and a great action set piece, though exposition-heavy and slower after the interval. |
| Rediff SREEJU SUDHAKARAN | 3.0/5 | Delivers Rajinikanth elevation moments and a funny first half, but an all-powerful hero leaves the villains toothless and the cameos add little. |
| The Week Sajin Shrijith | 2.5/5 | Praises the funny first half and a scene-stealing Namo Narayana, but filler cameos, low stakes and repetitive songs keep it below the original. |
| Deccan Chronicle BVS Prakash | 2.0/5 | Repetitive dark humour, caricatured villains and predictable cameos leave Rajinikanth carrying a thin script; only the first-half comedy and Anirudh's score help. |
| The Hollywood Reporter India Vishal Menon | mixed | Calls the first half among Rajini's funniest in decades, but the self-serious later stretch, dry cameos and kidnap games leave him apathetic. |
| Sakshi అంజి శెట్టె | 3.0/5 | Familiar story but a sharp screenplay: a story-light, fun first half and Anirudh's score, though the second half's repeated kidnap-and-rescue loop drags. |
| GreatAndhra venkat | 2.75/5 | Enjoys the Murthy comedy stretch and interval, but the villain half turns predictable, leaning on star power over writing, with ineffective cameos and weak songs. |
| Telugu360 krishna | 2.75/5 | Nelson's subtle comedy carries the first half and Anirudh's score impresses, but dull kidnapping episodes, wasted cameos and a weak climax sink the second. |
| Gulte Satya | 2.5/5 | An adrenaline-packed, funny first half with Namo Narayana shining gives way to a predictable second half, dud villains and underwhelming cameos. |
| M9 News Kalyan | 2.5/5 | Rajini's effortless presence and a breezy comic first half work, but SJ Suryah's villain-family track, forced emotions and flat cameos undo the second half. |
| Telugu Cinema (telugucinema.com) Jalapathy Gudelli | 2.5/5 | Rajini's charisma and Nelson's dark humour lift the first half, but a formulaic second half and thin emotional conflict fall well short of the original. |
| 123telugu | 3.0/5 | Rajini's swagger, Anirudh's score and Namo Narayana's comedy carry it, though a thin, Jailer-like plot stretches across nearly three hours with flat cameos. |
In the news
How it works: the Critic Meter is the share of named critics who liked the film (mixed counts half, from 3 reviews); the Seeti Meter is the share of Telugu viewers' comments under YouTube reviews that liked it, after removing fan-war and copy-paste comments; the ViralWhy Score weighs people 60%, critics 25% and creators 15%.