The promo for Jailer 2’s first song, ‘Ala Bolelo’, has drawn criticism from some viewers in Kerala over the pronunciation of its Malayalam lyrics.
According to Hindustan Times, the 32-second promo was released on Tuesday evening and features Rajinikanth and Shamna Kasim. The song has music and vocals by Anirudh Ravichander, with lyrics by Arunraja Kamaraj. Niranjana Raman, Aparna Harikumar and Deepthi Suresh provide additional vocals.
The promo opens with Anirudh singing Malayalam lyrics before cutting to Shamna dancing in a traditional kasavu saree. Like ‘Manasilaayo’ from Rajinikanth’s 2024 film Vettaiyan, the song appears to draw on Kerala’s cultural connection with Shamna. The full song will be released on 21 August.
While some Kerala fans welcomed another Rajinikanth release ahead of Onam, others criticised the pronunciation.
“Dear Tamils, please don’t include Malayalam in your songs or dialogues unless it’s pronounced correctly. Mispronouncing words, especially the ‘la’ sounds, can be really irritating to Malayalis and may feel disrespectful to our language. This is NOT Malayalam,” one X user wrote.
Another user said Tamil songs also often struggle with sounds such as “la, La, Zha, na, Na”, adding, “So, we are in the same boat.”
“Hire a lyric writer and singer who knows Malayalam,” another user commented.
A Tamil user agreed, writing, “As a Tamil, I completely agree. They should’ve at least hired a Malayali singer. I hate it when someone handle other languages poorly without any effort for authenticity.”
One user simply wrote, “dude…. it sounds like gibberish not Malayalam!”
Jailer 2 is written and directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures. The sequel to Jailer (2023) stars Rajinikanth, Ramya Krishnan, Yogi Babu, Mirnaa and Rithvik, reprising their roles.
SJ Suryah, Mithun Chakraborty, Vidya Balan, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Anna Rajan and Jatin Sarna join the cast. Mohanlal, Shiva Rajkumar and Jackie Shroff will reprise their cameo roles.
Nandamuri Balakrishna and Shah Rukh Khan were reportedly approached for cameos but reportedly turned them down. The film is scheduled for release on 15 October.
