Thug Life movie review
Cast: Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan TR and Trisha Krishnan
Director: Mani Ratnam
Star Rating: ★★.5
When Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam announced that they would be working together after 37 years, it was natural that expectations sky-rocketed. Using a script called Amar Hai by Kamal Haasan as the base, the two movie legends brought the audience Thug Life which features a large ensemble cast.
The premise
The movie revolves around Rangaraya Shaktivel (Kamal Haasan), a notorious gun-wielding (and martial arts trained) gangster in Old Delhi and as the movie begins, he tells the audience that Yama (Lord of Death) has appeared at his doorstep innumerable times only to have returned with no success. Sadanand (Mahesh Manjrekar) is Shaktivel and his elder brother Manickam’s (Nasser) biggest rival and in 1994, thanks to Sandanand’s betrayal a major police shoot-out occurs which sees a newspaper vendor’s son named Amar (Simbu) turn orphan.
Failing to find Amar’s younger sister Chandra after the melee, Shaktivel brings up Amar like his own son and teaches him the ropes of how to run their illegal businesses as successfully, and more, than him. However, the gangster isn’t without his vices. Though Shaktivel leads a happy life with his wife Jeeva (Abhirami) and daughter Mangai, his only ‘disease’ – as he tells Jeeva – is his mistress Indrani (Trisha) whom he’s unable to part with.
Obviously, as a gangster, there are bound to be enemies and sudden conflicts and the film takes us through how these impact Shaktivel and his family. How does Amar become Shaktivel’s enemy? Why does he want revenge? What happens to Shaktivel’s family? Does Yama finally succeed in taking Shaktivel?
Does Thug Life hold up to Nayakan?
Shaktivel. Gangster. Gang rivalry. A father who is killed. An orphaned boy. All these aspects immediately remind us of the cult classic Nayakan that Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan gave the audience in 1987. Thug Life has many shades of Nayakan especially in the first half where we see the introduction of various characters in the gangster drama. In the first half Mani Ratnam crafts the character of Shaktivel and the world around him with precision using symbolism, other characters and interesting set pieces. Amar’s story and character are finely etched out, and their relationship is established subtly and strongly. The interval provides the major turning point but unfortunately, everything unravels rather rapidly in the second half turning into an incoherent spectacle.
What plagues the film is the the ‘old wine in old bottle’ screenplay which loses steam mid-way incorporating far too many unnecessary characters, meandering through various places with glaring loopholes and quite a few insipid dialogues. The movie has emotions, intense action and some romance but the plot is thin and execution was paramount to making this flick highly engaging. And that’s where it falters.
The monochrome outfits, the long pony tails, the funky wedding song-and-dance, and the three-second kiss add allure and style but do not captivate. The visuals are striking and the work by DOP Ravi K Chandran is one of the highlights of the film, as is Oscar-winner AR Rahman’s BGM and songs. (Thankfully, Sugar Baby doesn’t feature in the film).
Kamal Haasan is an encyclopedia where acting is concerned and he breezes through the role of an emotional, ageing gangster with conviction and elan. Simbu superbly holds his own in this film against Kamal Haasan and this was a meaty role for him in his career. Abhirami is key to Shaktivel’s heart and her nuanced acting stands out in this movie, as does Ashok Selvan in his cop role. Frankly, Trisha’s role was not a compelling one and the movie could have done without Indrani and the ‘Madam, I’m your only Adam’ line. Others like talented Ali Fazal and Sanya Malhotra hardly had anything to do in this movie sadly but Joju George and Nasser seemed to have a good time playing the bad guy (for the nth time) on screen.
Thug Life becomes a tiring watch after a while and it certainly fails to recreate the Nayakan magic on screen.
