Star Cast: Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan T R, Trisha Krishnan, Aishwarya Lekshmi
Director: Mani Ratnam
Thug Life Movie Review Synopsis:
THUG LIFE is the story of a man facing betrayal from all corners. The year is 1994. Shaktivel (Kamal Haasan) is a gangster and runs a gang started by his brother Manickam (Nassar). One day, while they are at their basti in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, they are attacked by the police. A newspaper vendor dies in the firing. Shaktivel adopts the son of the vendor, named Amar. Amar later informs Shaktivel that he also has a sister, Chanda, and she’s missing since the day of the firing. Shaktivel promises to find her. 22 years pass. The year is 2016 and Amar (Silambarasan TR) is now the right hand man of Shaktivel. Manickam feels neglected and develops jealousy. Meanwhile, his daughter commits suicide after she gets pregnant and her boyfriend, Ranvijay (Rohit Saraf), dumps her. Ranvijay is the nephew of Sadanand (Mahesh Manjrekar), an old foe of Shaktivel. Shaktivel finds Ranvijay and kills him, further fuelling the enmity with Sadanand. Shaktivel is arrested and Amar takes charge. Amar joins hands with Sadanand to end the bloodshed, though Shaktivel has reservations. Ranvijay’s brother (Ali Fazal) doesn’t agree with the alliance and he attacks Shaktivel. Shaktivel survives but that’s not the end of the problem. Amar, Manickam and other gang members gang up to finish Shaktivel. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Thug Life Movie Story Review:
Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan’s story has promise though it’s also clichéd. Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan’s screenplay is arresting in places. But overall, it’s messy and full of cinematic liberties. The dialogues are decent. A film like this should have some clapworthy one-liners, ideally.
Mani Ratnam’s direction is occasionally decemt. To give credit where it’s due, he keeps viewers engaged, at least in the last one hour. The scene at Goa before and after the bomb explosion is memorable. The climax, though a bit unimaginative, keeps viewers hooked. The opening is also quite stylish and the use of black and white gives an interesting touch.
On the flipside, the film soon drops after a great start. The scenes are not properly stitched together, which is shocking, since the director is highly talented. But the film falls rapidly immediately after the intermission. A character is recovering from a bullet injury. He is shot twice and falls from a great height that too in biting cold. Yet, the character survives as if he has suffered just a minor bruise. And that’s not all. The character walks for miles and gets caught in an avalanche! Needless to say, he still survives. This track looks out of place, as the first half gives an impression that it’s a realistic gangster drama.
Thug Life – Hindi Trailer | Kamal Haasan | Mani Ratnam | STR | A.R. Rahman | RKFI | MT | RG
Thug Life Movie Review Performances:
Kamal Haasan, as expected, rises above the script. He looks convincing while doing action and shines in the emotional scenes. Silambarasan TR too puts his best foot forward. Trisha Krishnan (Indrani) looks stunning and performance wise, one wishes she had more to do in the film. Abhirami (Jeeva) is memorable in the second half in the beach scene. Nassar is dependable as always. Ali Fazal hardly has any screen time and is too similar to his act in MIRZAPUR. Aishwarya Lekshmi (Anna) is too good, albeit in a cameo. Joju George (Pathros), Sanjana Krishnamoorthy (Mangai), Bagavathi Perumal (Anburaj), Ashok Selvan (Jai Royappa) and others are decent. Mahesh Manjrekar and Rohit Saraf are passable.
Thug Life movie music and other technical aspects:
A R Rahman’s music is just okay. ‘Jinguchaa’ is the best of the lot followed by ‘Sugar Baby’, ‘Veer E Kainaat’ and ‘Chand Ke Tukdey’. A R Rahman’s background score is exhilarating but in a few scenes, it starts all of a sudden.
Ravi K Chandran’s cinematography is splendid. Anbariv’s action is entertaining though it’s disturbing in a few scenes. Sharmishta Roy’s production design is realistic. Eka Lakhani’s costumes are authentic while Amritha Ram’s costumes for Kamal Haasan are realistic. Special mention should also go to Akihito Ikeda’s make-up for Kamal Haasan. A Sreekar Prasad’s editing is functional.
Thug Life Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, THUG LIFE fails to entice due to the weak execution and silly post-interval portion. The Hindi version releases amid limited buzz and strong competition from HOUSEFULL 5. As a result, it will struggle to find an audience.