Jailer

Muthuvel Pandian, a retired prison warden, lives quietly: looking after his grandson, baking cakes, troubling nobody. When his son, a policeman, disappears during an investigation, the man reopens his past, and in that past is a hardness nobody knew about. Nelson Dilipkumar made it with Rajinikanth and plays with the star's own legend, taking the template of the old man whose calm is broken both seriously and as a joke. Stars from other languages appear alongside, including Mohanlal, Shivarajkumar and Jackie Shroff. The editing and Anirudh Ravichander's score set the rhythm. It became one of the highest-grossing Indian films of its year. Who it is for: viewers who like Tamil action and Rajinikanth. Who it is not for: anyone looking for realism.