Mani Ratnam’s, ‘Thug Life’, starring Kamal Haasan and Silambarasan, is an underwhelming mix of action and drama

The concept is solid: a man keeps trying to avoid death, and death keeps coming at him in every direction. But despite strong filmmaking, the narrative remains emotionally aloof. The rest of this review may contain spoilers.

Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan have repeatedly stressed that their reunion after Nayakan has nothing to do with that earlier film. They are right. There are a few images, a few touches that reminded me of Nayakan. Trisha (named Indrani) plays a version of the girl who is “saved” from a life of sex work. Silambarasan (as Amaran) plays a version of a boy who thinks his father has been killed by his mentor; he’s essentially a more ferocious variation on the boy who kept saying “baba mar gaya”. Plus, as a lost little boy, we see Amaran in an oversized shirt (like in Nayakan), as he loses his father and is “adopted” by another father. Kamal Haasan is named Sakthivel, as is his grandson. The idealistic cop played by Nasser in Nayakan finds a kind of reflection in the idealistic cop played by Ashok Selvan; only, this cop is after bad guys across the board. He’s not just after criminals but also the crooks in the government.

But here’s the thematic difference. Nayakan was an examination of good and bad, whether being oppressed meant that you could take the law into your own hands, even if it was to help your fellow-oppressed. The philosophy at the core was direct, and the questions it raised were emotionally affecting. Thug Life, on the other hand, is more abstract. It’s the story of a man who constantly battles with death – he even battles with his own death, at a point when he is betrayed. Sakthivel’s opening monologue talks about Yama, the god of death, and both literally and figuratively (i.e., in the form of loss), this film is filled with death: the death of a brother, the death of a mother (stated but not shown), the death of a lover, the death of a son, the death of an innocent father in a shootout, the death of a wife’s memory, the death of trust…

You can read the rest of the review here:

https://www.galattaplus.com/mani-ratnams-thug-life-starring-kamal-haasan-and-silambarasan-is-an-underwhelming-mix-of-action-and-drama/

You can watch the trailer / video review here:

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