Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is set to appear in an extended cameo in Rajinikanth's upcoming flick Jailer 2, amping up the excitement among fans of both the screen legends.

Khan is set to appear as a cop in the sequel to the action comedy, the news agency IANS reported citing sources in the industry.

This marks a series of firsts for Khan: Jailer 2 will be his Tamil cinema debut as well as the first time he gets to share screen space with Rajinikanth.

The news agency cited sources from the film's unit as saying that only Khan's portions remain to be filmed and that the Jawan and Pathaan star will begin shooting for his portions later this month. Once done, filming for the movie will be wrapped up.

It isn't immediately clear if Khan will be replacing Telugu superstar Nandamuri Balakrishna in the film. Actor-politician Balakrishna was initially roped in for an extended cameo in Jailer 2, but he reportedly quit amid scheduling conflicts.

A post that offered clues

Last month, Bollywood actor Jatin Sarna, best known for his role in the web series Sacred Games, put out a series of photographs on Instagram of him with key cast members, including Rajinikanth, Mithun Chakraborty and Vidya Balan.

Sarna is speculated to play one of the antagonists in the sequel to the 2023 action comedy.

Rajinikanth and Jatin Sarna

In September last year, Khaleej Times reported that Balan and Chakraborty were offered key roles in the movie, with the latter playing a key antagonist. In an interview to a Bengali TV channel last year, Chakraborty had also indicated at the possibility of Khan's role.

Chakraborty and Rajinikanth have collaborated multiple times in the past, with the superstar appearing in two of the former's films—the Hindi film Bhrastachar (1989) and the Bengali flick Bhagya Debata (1997).

Jailer 2 will mark Balan's second outing in Tamil cinema, with the 2019 legal drama Nerkonda Paarvai, a remake of the Bollywood hit Pink, being her first.

A phalanx of stars

The universe of Jailer 2 has, however, swelled. Not only will the movie feature cameos from Mohanlal and Shiva Rajkumar, as in the first instalment, it will also feature key cast members from it, including Ramya Krishnan, Mirnaa Menon and Yogi Babu. Vijay Sethupathi said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter India that he is overcoming his aversion for villainous roles, and will be seen in a cameo in Jailer 2.

Actor-director SJ Suryah and Vinayakan round off the cast to Jailer 2.

Vijay Sethupathi

Last January, media baron Kalanidhi Maran's Sun Pictures released a humorous announcement teaser, hinting that the sequel would be a continuation of the first: guns, fights and a hat-tip to Rajini's larger-than-life persona.

Jailer follows the travails of Muthuvel Pandian (Rajinikanth) a retired police official in search of his missing son, also an upright police officer, that won rave reviews. The movie grossed nearly Rs 6.5 billion (Dh 250 million approximately) globally, according to the box office tracker Sacnilk, and was one of 2023's biggest Indian grossers.

Jailer 2 was expected to release on June 12, 2026; speculation is now rife that it may hit theatres in August.

Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and bankrolled by Sun Pictures, Jailer 2 has Anirudh Ravichander as its music director.

The post that confirmed Mithun Chakraborty, Vidya Balan's roles in Rajinikanth's 'Jailer 2' 'Jailer 3'?: All about the filmmaker roped in to direct Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan