Apr 18, 2025 02:12 PM IST
Kamal Haasan spoke about working with director Mani Ratnam after a gap of more than three decades, for Thug Life. The film is set for release on June 5.
Ace director Mani Ratnam and Indian star Kamal Haasan reuniting together on screen after a whopping 37 years is headline indeed. After the stunning Nayakan in 1987, the two stalwarts are back together for Thug Life which is all set to release on June 5. On Friday, the Thug Life team launched a single from the film called Jinguchaa was released at an event in Chennai. (Also read: Kamal Haasan reveals the similarity between Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life and Nayakan)
‘Nothing has changed between Mani Ratnam and me’
Speaking at the event, Kamal Haasan opened up about why the two never got to work together again after Nayakan and even apologised. “Nothing has changed between Mani Ratnam and me even after all these years. It’s our fault for waiting for so long to come together. We were in search of better scripts and it took this long for us to collaborate. We are now working together again because of you, the audience – who want us to work together again. We should have collaborated earlier. I’m sorry.”
Kamal Haasan, who has co-written Thug Life with Mani Ratnam, also added that he was reminded of working with renowned director K Balachander, who is his mentor and guru, when he worked with Mani Ratnam. “I am reminded of K Balachander when I see Mani Ratnam’s style of working. He knows what a huge compliment this is. This is our mutual respect. I even have a nickname for Mani Ratnam! ‘Anju ara’ Mani Ratnam (meaning 5.30 am Mani Ratnam) because of how early he was every single day during the shoot,” he said.
On Trisha and Abhirami
Kamal Haasan who is known for his romances on screen also spoke about the two ladies in the film – Trisha and Abhirami – saying, “The two ladies don’t say ‘I love you’ to me – instead it is Joju George who does! He said ‘I Love you sir’ every day on set and I consoled myself with that,” he smiled jokingly.
Thug Life also features Trisha, Silambarasan, Joju George, Ashok Selvan, Nasser, Abhirami and others. The music for the film is by maestro AR Rahman while the cinematographer is Ravi K Chandran and editor is A Sreekar Prasad. The film is jointly produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies and Red Giant Movies.
