‘Thug Life’ OTT release: Mani Ratnam’s gangster drama is available to stream on this platform

After a short, but tense, stand-off between multiplexes and the producers of the film, Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life is now available for streaming on Netflix. This comes after the producers breached a contract that mandates films must run on the silver screens for eight weeks before their OTT debut. The Mani Ratnam directorial hit the screen less than a month ago, on June 5.

Thug Life follows Mafia don Sakthivel and his brother who adopts Amaran, an orphan, and cares for him as their own. Years later, following an assassination attempt, Sakthivel’s suspicion turns to his family, particularly his son. This film explores strong themes of father and son bonds. Aside from Haasan, the film also stars Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, and Aishwarya Lekshmi.

Thug Life earned poor reviews, with Sajin Shrijith of THE WEEK writing, “Where do I begin? There is, maybe, 40 per cent of Thug Life that's quite solid — and most of it is the pre-interval segments — when the film remains in gangster movie mode, with some tense sequences... However, once we reach post-interval, the film reveals other, strange inclinations. Let's just say that it sometimes wants to be ‘Nayakan 2.0’ at others, Batman Begins and John Wick.”

Nevertheless, fans of Ratnam and Haasan—owing to their acclaimed collaboration in Nayakan—are expected to stream the film, with the Kannada audience particularly curious.

What happened in Karnataka?

Thug Life was not screened in Karnataka when Haasan, during the audio launch of the film, discussed his love for his mother tongue, Tamil, and also added, “Kannada was born out of Tamil”—a statement that did not sit well with Kannadigas and drew a wave of criticism.

Pro-Kannadiga groups blocked the screening of the film in the state and demanded an apology from the actor, which Haasan has yet to issue. The matter reached the Supreme Court which ruled that the film had received proper certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), therefore, the film should be screened.

Despite the verdict, the producers of Thug Life opted not to screen the film in Karnataka. By then, the film had been out for two weeks and was staggering at the box office. Thug Life earned only Rs 97 crore, according to industry tracker Sacnilk, against a reported budget of Rs 200 crore. 

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