Thug Life review: Kamal Haasan defies death and logic in Mani Ratnam’s most commercial outing to date

Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam- two stalwarts coming together in a film is a cinematic event in itself. The highly anticipated film Thug Life, which marks the collaboration of the two legends after 37 years, is finally here.

Expectations, thus, were high for this one from the time the film was announced. But Haasan, who also serves as a co-writer and co-producer of the film, delivers a middling performance in a formulaic film that is spruced with well-known actors, both from the south as well as the north. Ratnam, who is considered one of the best auteurs in the country, always has managed to make warm, emotional, and gritty dramas. Each of his movies has the distinct mark of the filmmaker, which is hard to emulate. Thug Life, however , seems to be more of a massy drama which doesn’t particularly have any distinct stamp of the filmmaker.

Plot of Thug Life

Two brothers, Shakti (Haasan) and Manikyam (Nassar) run a mafia network in New Delhi. During a shootout with the police, Shakti rescues a little boy, Amar, whose father dies during crossfire. Amar ( STR) grows up to be Shakti’s closest aide, who takes the boy home and raises him as his own.Years later, Shakti ends up in jail, and Amar takes control of his empire and wants to make the business grow overseas.

However, an incident turns Amar and Shakti against each other. While Shakti soon repents and wants to make amends, Amar is consumed by rage and seeks revenge and allies with rivals to bring his mentor down.

Is Sakti able to save himself, and does Amar get to know details of his past- forms the rest of the story

What works

Expectations are always high from a film that features Kamal Haasan. Haasan plays a man, who holds his loved ones close and is ruthless to his enemies, delivering a convincing act. It isn’t Haasan’s best performance but credit should be given to the man for still being so agile and relevant at 70. The scene stealer, however, is STR, who delivers a strong performance as Amar- a loyal aide to Sakti but who feels he has been betrayed by his mentor.

Ratnam’s frequent collaborator Ravi K Chandran shoots the film beautifully, and some of the panoramic shots are stunning.

What does not

The film is terribly formulaic. At a time when Hindi films are relying heavily on south-inspired action thrillers, one had hoped Ratnam and Haasan would be able to change the narrative. But Thug Life sticks to the usual tropes of action films, where the lead protagonist is presented as larger than life. Haasan’s character is shot at, thrown off a cliff, and even gets caught in the middle of an avalanche, yet he survives. Haasan’s Shakti defies death so much that it would put regular superheroes to shame. At one point, a huge concrete slab falls on Haasan, yet, in the next moment, he is up fighting a man double his size. Nothing can beat him.

There are continuity issues, too. Simbu, dressed in white pants and a blue shirt, is shown tied on a dusty floor. But as he escapes, not a strand is out of his carefully made man bun, nor are there any creases on his clothes or a spec of dust. Unbelievable.

These flaws could be overlooked, if the plot was more solid. Almost at the beginning of the second half, you know how the film will pan out. The plot truly is wafer-thin, which only wants to make Haasan look like a superhero. As a result, a lot of the actors are wasted. Abhirami holds her own as Jeeva, Shakti’s wife. Trisha is wasted, so are Ali Fazal and Mahesh Manjrekar, who only have two scenes in total. Even STR fades away in the middle of the second half, only to reappear near the climax.

The women in Mani Ratnam's films are usually so well presented and often play an integral part of the story. They are usually strong individuals. However, in Thug Life, they are all shown to be dependent on the men. Be the mistress, who moves from one man to another's house and has no identity of herself, the wife who rallies around the husband and only worries of his well being, to the daughter who needs consent of the father, or the ex wife who needs father-in-law to get a divorce from the husband. The women are never on their own.

Final verdict

Thug Life is not a bad film, per se. However, it’s a film that reunites two legends of Indian cinema, so one would hope for something extraordinary, given their past work. Thug Life unfortunately falls into the usual trappings of a masala potboiler and never elevates itself to be something marvelous. It's a cinematic version of Mirzapur, where everyone is eyeing the hot seat and thus, trying to outdo the other person. And because most of us have watched the web series, Thug Life doesn't offer us anything new.

Thug Life has been released in theatres across the country on June 5.