Kamal Haasan at ‘Thug Life’ single launch: Mistake I didn’t collaborate with Mani Ratnam after ‘Nayakan’

The makers of Thug Life, the highly anticipated Tamil film reuniting Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam, released the first single from the film on Friday

All eyes are on Thug Life, one of the biggest film projects in the country this year. The project marks the collaboration of two living legends of Tamil cinema – actor Kamal Haasan and director Mani Ratnam, who last came together for the classic Nayakan (1987).

Launching the film’s first single ‘Jinguchaa’, which has music by Oscar-winning AR Rahman, Kamal Haasan said in a press meet held at Chennai’s Kalaivanar Arangam, “Thug Life is the kind of cinema I’d like to see... I’m glad that I got to act and produce it too. It has been done with a lot of love for a discerning audience.”

Kamal recalled a time when he and Mani Ratnam would sit on a parked scooter in Eldams Road in Chennai’s Alwarpet, discussing their dreams of making movies. “Nothing has changed since then. We dreamt big, but we were constricted by the market and budget. The reason we didn’t get together all these years since Nayakan... the mistake is ours. The reason we’re now back together is you (the audience),” he adds.

Thug Life, said to be an action gangster drama, also stars Silambarasan TR, Trisha, Joju George, Ashok Selvan, Abhirami and a host of others. Mani Ratnam said, “After many years, I got a chance to work with Kamal again. It’s not that he’s a brilliant actor; it’s the fact that he loves cinema. I admire how he balances mainstream cinema with experimental cinema. When he’s acting, half the burden of the director is reduced.”

With this project, the ace director teams up yet again with his constant collaborator, AR Rahman, with whom he first teamed up for Roja in 1992. Rahman said, “Of course, this is a reunion between Mani Ratnam and Kamal after the iconic Nayakan, but it is very different from Nayakan, and so I didn’t feel that pressure. The film is quite forward-thinking, has today’s sound quality and yet has the magic of Nayakan.

For stars like Silambarasan and Ashok Selvan, this was a ‘dream come true’. “It feels surreal,” he said, “During the shoot, I would usually be stuck between Mani and Kamal, and not know what to do. I have watched the work of all these people growing up and feel blessed to be part of such a project.” Trisha, who has already done a few films with Mani Ratnam, the last of them being Ponniyin Selvan, heaped praises on the team, as did actor Joju George,who is currently in demand as an actor thanks to his powerful performances in Malayalam cinema.

Even as audiences look forward to the film’s theatrical release on June 5, they have the high-energy track, ‘Jinguchaa’, to groove to. The wedding celebratory song, with lyrics written by Kamal himself, even features a quick dance step from Kamal and Simbu. “I was not even supposed to dance in this song,” revealed Kamal, “But then, Mani convinced me. It was difficult because I had to match Simbu’s energy.”