Kamal Haasan on Thug Life: “It’s the Audience That Brought Us Back Together”

After the iconic film ‘Nayakan’, actor Kamal Haasan and director Mani Ratnam have reunited for a new movie titled ‘Thug Life’. The film features a star-studded cast including Silambarasan (S.T.R), Trisha, Nassar, Joju George, Ashok Selvan, and Abhirami. It is being produced under the banners of Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies, R. Mahendran, and Siva Ananth. Music is composed by A.R. Rahman, with cinematography by Ravi K. Chandran. The film is set to release on June 5.

The first song from the film, titled ‘Jingucha’, was launched in Chennai recently. At the event, Kamal Haasan expressed his thoughts: “Nothing has changed between Mani Ratnam and me. We’ve had long conversations while riding a motorcycle down Eldams Road in Alwarpet. One of those resulted in ‘Nayakan’ and now, ‘Thug Life’.” He added that it is the audience who have brought them together again and that when the public decides, even theatre owners and distributors follow.

Kamal praised actor Silambarasan saying, “Just like how stars like Rajinikanth and I took over from the previous generation, STR is now shining, much like his father T. Rajendar once did — all thanks to the audience.”

Kamal gave Mani Ratnam a humorous nickname, ‘5:30 Mani Ratnam’, referring to the director’s habit of arriving early on sets – a practice going back to their ‘Nayakan’ days. He admired Mani Ratnam’s dedication, saying someone who thinks about cinema all night can only come to shoot at 5:30 AM.

He concluded by saying, “Mani Ratnam has made a film for our Raaj Kamal banner for the first time. The film has everything but is still different. We can’t keep making or watching the same kind of cinema.”