Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam duo reunited for the gangster drama Thug Life which is getting ready for release on June 5th. The promotional activities are in full swing for the movie across the country.

Mani Ratnam revealed how Nayakan and Thug Life happened. “Right after Mouna Ragam, I was back home. When Muktha Srinivasan suddenly dropped by, and he handed me a videocassette, saying it was something Kamal Haasan wanted me to watch. It was a Hindi film, but I hesitated. I told him, ‘I’m not the right fit for the project.’ He returned the next day, and I repeated my stance. Srinivasan simply said, ‘Then tell that to Kamal directly.’”

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That meeting changed everything. “Kamal was warm, curious. He asked me plainly, ‘What’s the issue?’ I told him I’d love to work together, but I had a different kind of story in mind—not the one on that cassette. I shared some ideas. He listened. And that’s how Nayakan was born.

Then one day, Kamal calls me again, just as casually, and says, ‘Let’s make a film.’ That film became Thug Life. The spontaneity was the same. The passion, still intact. Kamal, even after all these years, remains unchanged where it matters most—his hunger to create, to collaborate, to challenge the norm.”

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Sudhakar Reddy is releasing the Telugu version through Sreshth Movies.