The highly awaited collaboration between the legendary actor Kamal Haasan and renowned director Mani Ratnam has ended in Thug Life, the action drama, set to hit theaters worldwide on June 5, 2025. This upcoming action blockbuster was initially announced in November 2022 with the working title Kamal Haasan 234, as it is the legendary actor’s 234th film in a lead role. However, the original and finalized title was announced a year after the tentative title’s announcement.

A Classic Reunion After Decades

The upcoming Tamil action drama film, Thug Life, is marking the classic reunion between two of the most celebrated actors and directors in the Indian film industry, Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam. Previously, the legendary actor and renowned director had worked together in 1987 for Nayakan, the epic Tamil crime drama film. After 37 years, they are collaborating again with the Thug Life movie, whose OTT partner is Netflix.

Star-Studded Cast of Thug Life

Kamal Haasan’s upcoming Tamil action blockbuster features many talented film stars, including Trisha Krishnan, Joju George, Sanya Malhotra, Silambarasan TR, Pankaj Tripathi, Ashok Selvan, Ali Fazal, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Rohit Saraf, and others. Kamal Haasan is not only the lead actor in this film but has also co-written and produced this gangster drama. This film will feature the music composed by the Oscar-winning, highly renowned musician, A.R. Rahman. Sanya Malhotra and Ali Fazal are marking their debut in Tollywood.

Thug Life Movie: Production & Filming

The much-awaited and classic reunion film between Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam is set to hit theaters on June 5, the Thug Life release date. This Tamil action drama has been filmed across multiple locations in India and abroad, including Chennai, Kanchipuram, Pondicherry, New Delhi, Serbia, and other European locations.

Explaining the reason for the long 37-year wait for the classic collaboration, Ratnam said he could not find a suitable script for the legendary actor for years. He further said they finally discovered the one with Thug Life, whose script has been co-written by him and Haasan. Once he got free from the 2023 release of Ponniyin Selvan: II, he dedicated four months to completing this script in Kodaikanal.

Sanya Malhotra and Kamal Haasan starrer Tamil action drama’s muhurat pooja was organized on October 27, 2023, in Chennai at Raaj Kamal Films International headquarters. And after that, the promotional teaser was shot and released on November 6, 2023. Ravi K. Chandran, the highly acclaimed Indian cinematographer, was finalized for this project in mid-September 2023. This project is R.K. Chandran’s fourth and second film with Ratnam and Haasan, respectively.

More technical brilliance was added to Thug Life with editor A. Sreekar Prasad, production designer Sharmishta Roya, and publicity designer Gopi Prasanna. A.R. Rahman, with the upcoming action drama blockbuster, marked the 18th consecutive film with Ratnam. In January 2024, the first schedule of this film began in Chennai.

After the first scheduled part’s shoot completion on January 31, the second scheduled part’s shoot began in early February in European locations. The travel to Serbia for the third schedule was cancelled due to the unavailability of Kamal Haasan due to some political commitments. During April and May, shooting at Jaisalmer and New Delhi was done. Entirely, the film shooting was wrapped in November 2024.

Attribute	Details
Title	Thug Life
Language	Tamil
Genre	Gangster Action Drama
Director	Mani Ratnam
Writers	Mani Ratnam, Kamal Haasan
Producers	Kamal Haasan, R. Mahendran, Mani Ratnam, Siva Ananth, Udhayanidhi Stalin
Production Companies	Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies, Red Giant Movies
Main Cast	Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Ashok Selvan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Joju George, Abhirami, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Saraf, Vaiyapuri
Release Date	5 June 2025

Thug Life Movie: A Pan-India Powerhouse

With the June 5, 2025, Thug Life release date, Kamal Haasan’s multi-starrer film is all set to release in various theaters in multiple languages across the nation and internationally. It is anticipated that this multi-starrer movie will be another blockbuster for the legendary actor because of its strong plot, technical brilliance, and star-studded cast.
Netflix has been designated as the post-theatrical streaming partner of this multi-starrer film. Since the announcement of the Thug Life release date, fans are eagerly waiting to see the classic collaboration between the legendary actor and highly renowned director after 37 years.