Overview

• Thug Life, marking the reunion of Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam after nearly four decades, flopped at the box office and drew largely negative reviews.
• Netflix began streaming the film on July 2 in five languages—Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi—less than four weeks after its June 5 theatrical debut.
• The production paid a ₹25 lakh fine to Netflix for breaching the standard eight-week window and saw its digital rights fee slashed by about ₹110 crore.
• The film was banned in Karnataka following Kamal Haasan’s remark that “Kannada is born out of Tamil,” which triggered boycott calls and limited its regional run.
• Producers hope the early Netflix debut will help recoup losses on the ₹200 crore production by reaching wider streaming audiences.