Thug Life OTT release: Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam's film skips 8-week window, streams online a month after theatrical run

Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam's action drama Thug Life streams on OTT just a month after a poor run at the box office.

Tamil film Thug Life marked the reunion of superstar Kamal Haasan and filmmaker Mani Ratnam after 3 years. While audiences had high expectations from the duo, the film failed to impress, resulting in an underwhelming box office performance. Now, just a month after its theatrical release, the film is streaming on OTT.

Kamal Haasan's Thug Life release on OTT.

Thug Life releases on Netflix

Although most films follow an 8-week window between theatrical and OTT release, Netflix appears to have broken the norm for Thug Life. The streaming platform announced the film's digital debut on social media, writing:

“It is a battle between Death and Rangaraya Sakthivel, want to see who wins the game? Watch Thug Life, now on Netflix in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam #ThugLifeOnNetflix #Thuglife #KamalHaasan #SilambarasanTR A #ManiRatnam Film An @arrahman Musical.”

For the unversed, the film was banned in Karnataka following Kamal Haasan’s controversial remark that “Kannada was born from Tamil.” The actor refused to apologise, stating, "It is a democracy. I believe in the law and justice. My love for Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala is true. Nobody will suspect it except for those who have an agenda. I've been threatened earlier too, and if I am wrong, I would apologise, if I'm not, I won't.”

Despite the Supreme Court allowing its release, the film was not screened in Karnataka, as the distributor there declined to proceed.

About Thug Life

The action drama stars Simbu, Trisha, Ashok Selvan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nasser, Joju George, Ali Fazal, and others. It tells the story of an ageing gangster whose adopted son turns against him due to a personal vendetta. Featuring music by AR Rahman, the film is jointly produced by Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan.

Upon release, Thug Life faced criticism for Kamal’s lengthy monologues and a disjointed second half. Some viewers even felt that Mani Ratnam had simply rehashed Mirzapur. The film failed to recreate the cinematic magic of their earlier collaboration Nayakan, and ended its box office run with just ₹97.25 crore worldwide.