"Thug Life Is Our Peace Offering": Kamal Haasan Regrets Not Collaborating With Mani Ratnam After 'Nayakan'
Legendary director Mani Ratnam’s upcoming gangster drama, Thug Life, with prominent stars like Kamal Haasan, STR, Trisha, Abhirami, Nassar and others is the current sensation of Tamil cinema. While the upcoming directorial of the Ponniyin Selvan director reunites the prominent thugs of the Tamil film industry, actor Kamal Haasan regrets and offers the film as a peace offering to the fans.
Produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies, and Red Giant Movies, this film marks the reunion of the legends—Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan—after three decades. The duo, who were known for their successful collaboration on the 1987 epic drama Nayakan, are here again to make history.
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Thug Life, the upcoming gangster drama, will be a spectacular visual treat to the audience who waited to witness this collaboration for years. In the recent audio launch, actor Kamal Hassan expressed his excitement and conveyed his apology to his fans for delaying his reunion with the director.
“We can only say sorry. This film is our peace offering. And the fault lies with us. We could have done it. It is our fault—we kept thinking we could have done it. But it makes it a stage for an apology,” Haasan said during the song launch.
About his reunion with director Mani Ratnam, the actor said that nothing has changed between them. As the visionary of Indian cinema, actor Kamal added, “We have done about 25 percent of what we spoke of. One is Nayakan, and the other one is Thug Life. We have a long way to go. Because we didn’t get to realize all our dreams in any film. I am sure that will be the case in the future that we do.”
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Mani Ratnam-Kamal Haasan’s ‘Nayakan’
Nayakan, the epic crime drama of director Mani Ratnam, holds a special place in Tamil cinema for its achievements and success. The film, which takes Tamil cinema to newer heights in the 80s, is also known for its commercial success, running for over 175 days in theaters. The film won national awards for the best actor, best cinematography and best art direction at the 35th National Film Awards.
Notably, Nayakan was India’s official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1987 at the 60th Academy Awards; however, it was not shortlisted among the final nominees. Nayakan is loosely based on the life of the Bombay underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar and the American film The Godfather (1972).
Aiming to create an epic landmark in Tamil cinema, Thug Life features Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Abhirami, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Saraf, and Aishwarya Lekshmi, among others.
