Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Jul 3: Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s much-anticipated film ‘Thug Life’, which stirred controversy ahead of its theatrical release on June 5, has now silently premiered on Netflix, less than a month after hitting cinema screens.

The Tamil gangster action drama, made on a reported budget of Rs 200-300 cr, is now available for streaming in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. However, the film had skipped theatrical release in Karnataka after Kamal Haasan’s comment at a promotional event — claiming Kannada “was born out of Tamil” — triggered backlash.

Despite mounting pressure, Haasan refused to apologise and also withheld the film’s release in Karnataka, which many believe impacted its box office performance.

Also starring Silambarasan TR, the film’s early OTT release on Thursday morning has surprised many in the industry, coming just two days before completing a month in theatres.