Karnataka will not see ‘Thug Life’ despite SC order: ‘Not a good business decision’

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed the Karnataka government to permit the screening of the Tamil film Thug Life in the state. The decision comes after pro-Kannadiga organisations blocked the release of the Mani Ratnam directorial following a remark made by the lead actor, Kamal Haasan, about the Kannada language in May. “Kannada was born out of Tamil,” the actor said, which triggered a wave of criticism.

However, Venkatesh Kamalakar, the distributor for Thug Life, has stated that despite the Supreme Court ruling, it would not make sense to release the movie two weeks after its theatrical debut. Speaking to Indian Express, Kamalakar said, “I will not release the movie, and I have many reasons. I bought the Karnataka distribution rights, and today, if any movie has to earn money, it happens only within two weeks. It has been more than two weeks since the movie was released, and it has not done well even in Tamil Nadu.”

Thug Life is currently struggling at the box office, failing to recover its budget. The film has barely touched Rs 50 crore, against its Rs 300 crore budget.

Kamalakar noted that aside from the backlash caused by Haasan’s language-related comment, another reason he is hesitant to release the film is due to the poor performance of the actor’s prior films in Karnataka. “It is not a good business decision to release the film now. His previous film Indian 2 also did not do well here in Karnataka. When it comes to his films, the success depends on how good it is. Thug Life is generally considered not a good film by many. So, it is too risky,” Kamalakar said in a statement to PTI.

“It is not like it is our fault. Things turned out the way they did, and when there is no profit, which theatre owner will agree to showcase the film.” Though not confirmed by the distributor, sources claim that Kamalakar paid about Rs 9 crore as an advance.

 

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