logo
Thug Life One Last Time: Trisha Krishnan, Kamal Haasan and team come together for special screening with director Mani Ratnam

Thug Life One Last Time: Trisha Krishnan, Kamal Haasan and team come together for special screening with director Mani Ratnam

Pink Villa05-06-2025

Thug Life has made for a decent start in the theaters as it was released on June 5. The movie recorded positive advance bookings across Tamil Nadu and the rest of the southern states, as well as North India, indicating steady box office collections on the opening day.
Starring Kamal Haasan, Trisha Krishnan, Silambarasan TR, and others in key roles, the Mani Ratnam-directed film held a pre-release screening ahead of its theatrical launch.
Thug Life cast attends pre-release screening
Taking to her IG stories, Trisha Krishnan shared a photo of herself with the cast and crew of Thug Life, which also included Kamal Haasan. The team attended a pre-release screening of the action thriller before it made its way to the cinema halls and multiplexes.
The team looked casual and relaxed as they joined in for a photograph together. Besides Trisha and KH, Joju George, Ashok Selvan, Abhirami, and others were also present.
Thug Life bags early morning shows in Tamil Nadu
Ahead of its release, Thug Life was permitted by the government of Tamil Nadu to host special shows in the state. As a result, a total of five shows were allowed, which would screen from 9 AM to 2 AM the next day.
This has helped the film receive a wider audience response, as enthusiastic viewers have flooded their nearest theaters to watch the highly anticipated film.
Thug Life Karnataka controversy
In other news, the Mani Ratnam action thriller has faced a ban in the state of Karnataka.
It happened after one of Kamal Haasan's comments apparently hurt the sentiments of Kannada speakers, who demanded an immediate apology from the actor to prevent his film from being banned.
However, the actor refused to issue an apology and instead moved to the High Court for resolution, demanding an amicable dialogue with the KFCC to clear up the misunderstanding. Until then, the film would not be screened anywhere in Karnataka and is banned in the state.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Working as a software engineer gives me financial independence to pursue acting: Raviksha Shetty
Working as a software engineer gives me financial independence to pursue acting: Raviksha Shetty

Time of India

time29 minutes ago

  • Time of India

Working as a software engineer gives me financial independence to pursue acting: Raviksha Shetty

My debut was supposed to happen much earlier, but a road accident significantly delayed it,' shares actress Raviksha Shetty. Undeterred, she recovered swiftly and is now off to an impressive start in Kannada cinema. 'I signed Peter, where I was paired opposite Rajesh Dhruva,. I am also acting in films like Seat Edge, Marika, and more. I'm glad for this decent beginning as an actor, and can't wait to see myself on the silver screen.' 'AS A FRESHER, I CAN'T DEMAND A CERTAIN PAY, BUT I CAN ENSURE THE QUALITY OF MY WORK' A software engineer at a private firm in Bengaluru, Raviksha shares, 'I believe in financial independence. Coming from a middleclass family, my interest in acting was met with negativity due to the hurdles newcomers face. To overcome this, I decided to work until I establish a strong foothold in the industry. This also ensures I don't compromise on the quality of my work. As a fresher, I can't demand a certain pay, which is annoying, so an alternate financial source is crucial for me to sustain myself. With work-from-home options and by using my leaves for shoots, I'm managing both perfectly.' 'MY ROLE CHOICES ARE DRIVEN BY WHAT RESONATES WITH AUDIENCES' 'As newcomers, we don't have many options,' she acknowledges. 'But as an audience, I know certain characters leave an everlasting impression. I aspire to play those kinds of roles — ones that make a huge impact and remain etched in viewers' minds for years,' Ravishka says.

Despite Supreme Court's green light for ‘Thug Life', film fails to release in Karnataka
Despite Supreme Court's green light for ‘Thug Life', film fails to release in Karnataka

Indian Express

time4 hours ago

  • Indian Express

Despite Supreme Court's green light for ‘Thug Life', film fails to release in Karnataka

Despite the Supreme Court clearing the path for the release of Kamal Haasan-starrer Thug Life movie in Karnataka, the film failed to hit the theatres in the southern state on Friday. The distributors decided not to distribute the film in the state, reportedly due to the poor response and box office collections in other states. The film opened to mixed reviews earlier this month, leading to a poor theatrical run across the country. According to the makers, the film was produced with a budget of Rs 300 crore. After two weeks of its release, the movie is struggling to touch the Rs 50-crore mark in India. Meanwhile, the distributors in Karnataka are prioritising new films, such as Dhanush- and Nagarjuna-starrer Kuberaa and Aamir Khan's highly anticipated Sitaare Zameen Par. The Mani Ratnam-directed Thug Life released on June 5 across India except in Karnataka, where its release was 'stalled' following the controversy over lead actor Haasan's reported remark that 'Tamil gave birth to Kannada'. The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) demanded an apology from the actor. Meanwhile, pro-Kannada groups threatened to target theatres if the film was screened, pushing the makers to petition the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Karnataka government to ensure the uninterrupted release of Thug Life in the state, dismissing a public interest litigation filed under Article 32 of the Constitution. The court transferred a related case from the Karnataka High Court and closed proceedings after the state filed an affidavit confirming no restrictions on the movie's release. The Karnataka government, in its affidavit, stated that it has imposed no ban on Thug Life and pledged full protection and security for its screening. Senior advocate Satish Parasaran, representing Raaj Kamal Films, expressed satisfaction with the state's stance and chose not to pursue the writ petition further. The bench emphasised that the state must act swiftly against any groups attempting to forcibly disrupt the film's release. 'We should be able to check our emotions. Otherwise, we will be engulfed by them. There is a difference between real life and reel life,' the court observed.

Reel life in the dark room of Emergency
Reel life in the dark room of Emergency

Hindustan Times

time4 hours ago

  • Hindustan Times

Reel life in the dark room of Emergency

It didn't take even three decades for the sovereign democratic Republic of India to face a nation-wide internal Emergency (June 25, 1975–March 21, 1977), which in practice meant democratic despotism and electoral autocracy. Both paradoxical and contradictory-in-terms, when film producers, directors and artistes saw how their freedom was clipped while the censorial scissors became extra-constitutionally sharper in the hands of an elected despot. After the Emergency got over, the newly elected Janata Party government at the Centre published a White Paper on Misuse of Mass Media During the Internal Emergency in August 1977, that listed all branches of mass media (including cinema) and examined how their rights were violated through the reckless abuse of power. Playback singer Kishore Kumar was another artiste who fell out with the authorities during the Emergency. (HT Photo) My story begins with two instances from Southern India that the White Paper did not mention. Incidentally, on the very day of the clamping of the draconian Emergency, i.e. June 25, 1975, a Kannada film was winding up its shooting while a Malayalam film project was being launched in Bengaluru; the Malayalam film crew was in the Karnataka capital because at that time the State government was offering a subsidy of ₹ 50,000 to producers who made films in that state. The Malayalam film was Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol (When the Kabani River Turned Red, 1975). The director of the film, PA Backer, and its producer, Pavithran, are no more, but I spoke with TV Chandran, who debuted as an actor in Kabani (Chandran is better known as a screenwriter and director in Kerala today). Chandran recalled how they were harassed during the shoot because the film dealt with the theme of student revolt against the establishment. Later, the censors asked the producer to chop off nearly 1,000 feet of the footage. Parts of the film were reshot and was resubmitted to two central representatives. The film was screened for the two men at the massive Kalaivanar Arangam theatre in Madras (Chennai), who did not find anything objectionable in it. However, Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol was withdrawn from a cinema hall in Thiruvananthapuram a couple of weeks after its release under government instruction. This time, the police ordered further cuts. The second story is about the Kannada film, Chanda Maruta (Rogue Winds, 1975) starring Snehalatha Reddy and directed by her husband Pattabhi Rama Reddy. The film, inspired by P Lankesh's play Kranthi Bantu Kranthi had, in fact, prophesied the Emergency. The censors banned the film. On June 25, 1975, Snehalata Reddy, who was one part of the lead pair (along with Girish Karnad) in Samskara (1970), Pattabhi Rama Reddy's adaptation of UR Ananthamurthy's celebrated novel, was imprisoned on false charges. She was tortured in Bangalore Central Prison and passed away while on parole on January 20, 1977. She was only 45. Eminent Malayalam writer-director MT Vasudevan Nair had planned to make a film about her, which, unfortunately, didn't happen. However, Uma Chakravarti's documentary Prison Diaries (2019) provides us an invaluable document about the imprisonment of a number of women who resisted the Emergency through the life of Snehalatha Reddy. Anand Patwardhan's 1978 film Prisoners of Conscience is a chronicle of how, under the Emergency, dissenters were detained and tortured in prisons. Among the films the White Paper mentions is Aandhi (Storm, 1975) directed by Gulzar and starring Sanjiv Kumar and Suchitra Sen. The film's heroine was to be modelled on Indira Gandhi but that idea was dropped. Permission was granted only after the producer revised the film. Kissa Kursi Ka, directed by Amrit Nahata in 1975, fared worse. The film was a satire on the politics of that time. It was first banned and later, its prints were confiscated. The film as well as its negative were destroyed. Andolan, directed by Lekh Tandon (1975) dealt with the 1942 movement. It could not be released because the producer was ordered to cut all the portions dealing with underground activities that were contextualised around the story. Even the blockbuster Sholay wasn't spared. The censors asked the producer to change the end scenes. Playback singer Kishore Kumar was another artiste who fell out with the authorities during the Emergency. As a result, his songs were banned from the radio and television, both controlled by the government, and the sale of gramophone records with his songs was made unlawful! Such bullying and arm-twisting by the central government were commonplace during the 21 months of the Emergency. Like Snehalatha Reddy and Kishore Kumar, not everyone meekly surrendered. Actor Dev Anand opposed the Emergency publicly and described it as a 'dark night, a nightmare, an insult to the people'. He even formed a political party – the National Party of India – which had to be disbanded when he failed to find suitable candidates to fight elections after the Emergency was lifted in 1977. As the nation commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, these instances of pushback should be remembered. Amrit Gangar is a Mumbai-based author, curator and historian. The views expressed are personal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store