Mani Ratnam fans get nostalgic for Nayakan, Thalapathi, Guru after lukewarm response to Thug Life

Mani Ratnam's Kamal Haasan-starrer Thug Life opened to mixed reviews on Thursday, leading his fans to dig up some of his classics.

There was a time when Mani Ratnam defined the cultural zeitgeist of Tamil cinema – maybe even south Indian cinema at large. Even in an age of memes and GIFs, he remains relevant when shots of his old films are used in lieu of conversations. I mean, the image of Surya (Rajinikanth) looking heartbroken as the sun sets and his lover Subbulaxmi (Sobhana) walks away from him or the look Karthik (Madhavan) gives Shakthi (Shalini Ajith Kumar) as he locks eyes with her from a passing train are seared into any cine lover's mind.

Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Mammootty in stills from Nayakan and Thalapathi.

Which is why it’s even more heartbreaking for fans when a filmmaker like Mani’s craft is called into question. After a day of analysing the seemingly many ways in which his latest release, Thug Life, failed to impress, fans sat down for some introspection. Have they grown out of liking Mani’s style, or did the filmmaker not live up to his own legend? If their posts on X (formerly Twitter) are anything to go by, the latter seems more than likely to be true. Pictures and clips from his old films like Nayakan and Thalapathi flood social media.

Fans get nostalgic for old Mani Ratnam films

After watching Thug Life, one fan on X posted their favourite scenes from Mani and Kamal Haasan’s previous film together, Nayakan (1987), to remind everyone what both were capable of. They wrote, “Look how beautifully Maniratnam crafted his own Godfather in Bombay. This cinematic masterpiece could never be recreated and will remains as the best gangster drama ever made in Indian Cinema. NAYAKAN - THE OG SAMBAVAM from Iconic duo.” Another posted key scenes that summed up Kamal’s character, Shaktivel Naicker, aka Velu in the film, writing, “Forever NAYAKAN. Absolute cinema! Peak Mani Ratnam.”

Another hilariously posted a scene where Prabhu stops himself from slapping Rajinikanth, writing, “Me trying to do maniratnam slander but suddenly remembering he was the one who made nayakan, thalapathy, iruvar, kannathil muthamittal, alaipayuthey. #ThugLife.” A fan posted a scene where Surya explains the plight of the poor to Arjun (Arvind Swamy) in Thalapathi (1991), writing, “One film celebrated the day it released. One film celebrated on its rerelease. Thalapathi — Mani Ratnam’s timeless classic made to last forever.”

Some fans even got nostalgic for films Mani made in the early 2000s, like Kannathil Muthamittal (2002) and Guru (2007). “What happened to this GOAT MANIRATNAM nowadays,” wrote one fan on X with sad emojis, posting a scene featuring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. Another analysed, “In Kannathil Muthamittal climax when the lead characters have conversation. Setting has that cloudy look. In the end it starts raining. From that to this. What a downfall.”

About Thug Life

Thug Life stars Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Rohit Saraf and Baburaj. It marks Mani and Kamal’s reunion for the first time after Nayakan. Hindustan Times’ review summed up the film: “Thug Life becomes a tiring watch after a while and it certainly fails to recreate the Nayakan magic on screen.”