Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan's Thug Life was released on Thursday amidst huge fanfare worldwide. The gangster action drama marked the actor and the director's reunion after 38 years post Nayakan. However, as the film continues to face a ban in Karnataka due to Kamal Haasan's controversial statement on Kannada language, several fans from Bengaluru resorted to travelling to Hosur in Tamil Nadu to catch a glimpse of their favourite star.
Until a day ahead of the release, the Karnataka government refused to release the film in the state although a petition was filed by the film’s production house, Raaj Kamal Films International at the state's High Court. During the hearing, Haasan came in for strong criticism from the court for his remark suggesting that "Kannada was born out of Tamil," and the court observed that a "single apology could have resolved the situation." The court then posted the case to June 10 for further hearing. The Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA) also wrote a letter to KFCC requesting a June 5 release of the film, but it continues to face a ban. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government had given a green signal for one special show to be screened in theatres on the first day.
Kamal Haasan's recent remark led to a huge controversy and Karnataka leaders and the Film Chamber of the state demanded that the actor withdraw his statement and tender an apology. However, he declined to apologise, saying that his comment “said out of genuine affection for the legendary Rajkumar’s family, especially Shivarajkumar, has been misunderstood and taken out of context."
While the issue is yet to be resolved, Thug Life has been running with packed theatres everywhere in the country and world. The film's extended ensemble cast comprises Silambarasan, Trisha, Joju George, Abhirami, Ashok Selvan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nassar, Bagavathi Perumal, Mahesh Manjrekar, Tanikella Bharani, Vadivukkarasi, Chinni Jayanth, Vaiyapuri, Baburaj, Ali Fazal, Rohit Saraf, Arjun Chidambaram, Chetan, and Rajashri Deshpande.
The technical crew of Thug Life features cinematographer Ravi K Chandran, music director AR Rahman, editor Sreekar Prasad and action directors Anbariv.
