Thug Life, featuring Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan, and Trisha Krishnan, finally hit theatres today amid high expectations, especially given the reunion of Kamal with director Mani Ratnam after more than 35 years.
Despite the strong credentials, the film has failed to deliver at the box office, struggling to cross even the ₹20 crore mark on day one — a figure lower than the opening of Indian 2, which had comparatively less pre-release hype.
Initial excitement around Thug Life started fading after the trailer release, and the film couldn’t maintain momentum in its final promotional phase.
Upon release, it opened to mixed to negative reviews from critics, with many pointing to weak writing and uninspired execution.
Audience word-of-mouth has also been largely unfavorable, describing the film as one of the weakest outings in both Kamal Haasan’s and Mani Ratnam’s careers.
In terms of box office performance, Tamil version shows began with a solid 51% occupancy in the morning. However, footfalls dropped during the day — 50% in the afternoon and down to 45% by evening. Night show updates suggest no significant recovery.
In Telugu, the film maintained a steady but modest occupancy between 20% and 23%. Meanwhile, the Hindi version saw a near-total washout, with occupancy ranging from just 4% to 6%.
As per early estimates, Thug Life is expected to end its opening day with ₹16–18 crore net in India—far below industry expectations for a project of this scale and pedigree.
Kamal Haasan’s previous release, Indian 2, opened to ₹26 crore despite poor word-of-mouth, thanks largely to the hype around it being a sequel.
The fact that Thug Life is trailing behind even that is a major letdown for fans and the industry alike.
