Thug Life, which reunited Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam three decades after Nayakan, continues to run into troubled waters. After a problematic theatrical release, which saw the film getting banned in Karnataka following Kamal's contentious comment about Kannada's origin, the film failed to work critically and commercially. Now, as per a Pinkvilla report, it is set to debut soon on Netflix, breaching the national eight-week window for a theatrical release. As a result, the film's producer, Kamal's Raaj Kamal Films International, is set to face a penalty of 25 lakh, a source close to the development confirmed.

Reportedly, Netflix and the Thug Life producer agreed on a deal that would see the film releasing soon on the streaming platform at a reduced price of 110 crore, as opposed to the 130 crore. Thug Life tells the story of a gangster and his adopted son (Silambarasan TR), who turns against the former as he discovers dark secrets about his past. The film also stars Nasser, Trisha, Abhirami, Joju George, Aishwarya Lekshmi, and Ashok Selvan, among others. The film marks Kamal's second back-to-back failure at the box office after Indian 2, directed by S Shankar.