Jun 05, 2025 01:38 PM IST
Thug Life has been banned in Karnataka due to a statement made by Kamal Haasan. The actor’s fans, however, seem to have found a way to watch his film.
In case you missed it, Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life has been banned in Karnataka following Kamal Haasan’s ‘Kannada is born from Tamil’ statement and his unwillingness to apologise for it as it was ‘made out of love’. The actor’s fans, however, remain unstoppable as they take to social media to share that they’re willing to travel 42 km to catch his latest release. (Also Read: Thug Life Twitter reviews: Kamal Haasan’s never-ending monologues test patience, Mani Ratnam rehashed Mirzapur, say fans)
Kamal Haasan fans willing to travel to watch Thug Life
As Thug Life was released on Thursday, social media was filled with pictures and videos of fans celebrating outside theatres and giving their reviews of the film. One X (formerly Twitter) user posted videos of fans bursting firecrackers outside a single-screen theatre in Hosur. They wrote that fans travelled from Bengaluru to the theatre in Tamil Nadu to watch the film: “Thuglife is banned in Karnataka, but no one can stop our love for Kamal Haasan. All the fans in Bangalore are gathered here in Hosur!”
Not just that, even on Reddit, some Kamal fans wondered if Tamil people would be offended by them travelling to Hosur to watch the film. One Redditor asked, “Big Kamal Haasan fan here from Bengaluru. Is it safe to come to Hosur tomorrow in bike to watch THUG LIFE. Don’t get offended please… I just don’t want my vehicle’s tyre to be punctured or vehicle scratched.” Another answered that it should be safe, given that Hosur has many KA-registered vehicles, just like Bengaluru has many TN-registered ones. Others also assured the Redditor it would be safe.
The Kannada language row
Despite Thug Life being Mani and Kamal’s first film in almost four decades after the 1987 film Nayakan, the actor’s statement during a promotional tour in Karnataka seems to have overshadowed it all. On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court called the actor out for not apologising while hearing a plea seeking protection for the release of the film in the state. The judge stated that a ‘single apology’ could’ve ‘resolved the situation’, even questioning if the actor was a linguist or a historian.
Thug Life stars Kamal, Silambarasan TR, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Rohit Saraf and Baburaj.
