Mani Ratnam's gangster thriller Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan in the lead, is struggling to make the expected impact at the domestic box office.
What
- The film opened at just half of what Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam's recent films have earned on their debut, and has since seen a steady decline in collections.
- On Sunday, its fourth day at the box office, Thug Life collected Rs 6.50 crore in India.
- This figure is lower than its earnings on Friday and Saturday, which stood at Rs 7.15 crore and Rs 7.75 crore, respectively.
- The downward trend was first noticeable on Friday, as the film's earnings dropped to half of its opening day collection of Rs 15.5 crore.
- According to Sacnilk, the film's total domestic box office collection across all languages after four days stands at Rs 36.90 crore.
- While it has crossed the Rs 35 crore mark, the number is modest when compared to the performance of Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam's earlier hits, which earned similar amounts in under two days.
Background
Kamal Haasan's last release, the vigilante action film Indian 2, directed by S Shankar, opened to Rs 30.25 crore across all languages and collected Rs 62.5 crore in its first four days.
Haasan's 2022 action thriller Vikram, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, had a strong opening of Rs 32.05 crore and entered the Rs 100 crore club within four days of release.
Director Mani Ratnam's last film, the 2023 period drama Ponniyin Selvan: II, opened at Rs 34 crore and crossed the Rs 100 crore mark over the opening weekend. Its predecessor, Ponniyin Selvan I, also performed well, opening at Rs 28.45 crore and crossing Rs 100 crore within the first four days in 2022.
Over the weekend, Thug Life registered its highest occupancy on Sunday during the evening shows (39.43%), followed by the afternoon (37.96%), night (29.43%), and morning shows (22.17%). The film's Tamil version contributed the most to the Sunday earnings, followed by the Hindi and Telugu versions.
In the Hindi belt, Thug Life is facing stiff competition from Tarun Mansukhani's ensemble whodunit comedy Housefull 5. Later this week, it will also have to contend with the release of Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1, directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and Jyothi Krishna.
The action film starring Pawan Kalyan and Bobby Deol is set to release on Thursday, June 12, and is expected to perform well in the Telugu market.
The film also suffered a setback due to its absence from theatres in Karnataka. The makers informed the Karnataka High Court that they are not willing to release the film in the state unless a dialogue or trialogue is held with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. The court criticised Kamal Haasan for a recent remark in which he suggested that "Kannada was born out of Tamil," and added that a "single apology could have resolved the situation."
In A Nutshell
Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan and directed by Mani Ratnam, has seen a sharp drop at the box office, earning Rs 36.90 crore in four days, much lower than their past hits. The film also wasn't released in Karnataka due to controversy over Haasan's remarks on Kannada, which the court said could have been resolved with "a single apology."