Thug Life’s no show in Karnataka could lead to loss of Rs 350 million, feel trade experts

Mani Ratnam’s latest film Thug Life, featuring Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan TR, and Trisha Krishnan, released across India on June 5, except in Karnataka. The film was banned in the state owing to Kamal Haasan’s controversial remark stating, ‘Karnataka was born out of Tamil.’ As the actor refused to apologise for his statement, saying it was said out of love, local film bodies in Karnataka called for a statewide ban on the film’s release. But according to reports, the ban will lead to an estimated Rs 35-40 crore (Rs 350 million -400 million) loss for the film.

Thug Life is co-produced by Haasan and Ratnam’s Madras Talkies.

How much will the Karnataka ban cost Thug Life?

Producer and distributor G Dhananjayan spoke to The Hindu and said that the production of Thug Life will likely lose Rs35-40 crore gross at the box office and Rs12-15 crore (Rs 120 million – 150 million) share to producers due to the missed release in Karnataka.

This calculation was based on how Pushpa 2, Baahubali 2, RRR, and Kalki 2898 AD made in Karnataka alone.

He said, “With the four Telugu films grossing a total of ₹5832 crore (Rs 58 billion), the Karnataka box office revenue alone amounts to ₹391.20 crore (Rs 3.9 billion) while the north Indian market accounts for ₹2361.60 crore (Rs 23 billion). The Karnataka market accounts for around 7% of the total revenue.”

Top-grossing Tamil films like Jailer, Leo, Ponniyin Selvan, The GOAT, and Vikram had a major chunk of the market in Karnataka, said the producer, adding, “For Tamil films too, the Karnataka market accounts for 7% of the total revenue.

About the language row

On 27 May, while promoting Thug Life and calling Kannada film star Shiva Rajkumar his family, Kamal said, “Kannada was born out of Tamil,” sparking uproar. The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce threatened to ban the film's release in the state subsequently but the actor refused to apologise and claimed his statement was being misconstrued.

He moved the Karnataka High Court to help with the release, but the court reprimanded the actor and stated that the issue could be solved with a ‘simple apology’ while criticising the actor for not being a linguist or historian.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Active Film Producers Council has stated that Karnataka stopping or postponing Thug Life’s release will damage the relationship between the two film industries and will have consequences.

WION’s review of Thug Life

Shomini Sen of WION called the film the ‘most commercial outing’ of Mani Ratnam’s. “Thug Lifeis 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 Lifeunfortunately falls into the usual trappings of a masala potboiler and never elevates itself to be something marvelous.” Read full review here