Tamil cinema maverick’s last two films earned only 50% of Rs 450 crore budget; Rs 200 crore actioner minted only Rs 97 crore

The gangster action drama marked the actor's reunion with its director after a gap of over 30 years. (Screenshot: YouTube/rkfi)

Despite a handful of movies headlined by A-listers hitting the screens one after the other, 2025 was a comparatively duller year for Tamil cinema. One of the main reasons was that most of the highly anticipated films disappointed audiences. While smaller movies like Bison Kaalamaadan, Bad Girl, Tourist Family, Paranthu Po, and Madras Matinee impressed moviegoers, big-ticket films like Coolie, Vidaamuyarchi and Retro failed to resonate with them. However, arguably the biggest disappointment of the year came from two of the most celebrated film professionals in the history of Tamil cinema, Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam, in the form of the gangster action drama Thug Life.

One of the most anticipated Indian films of the year, marking the reunion of the two legends over three decades after Nayakan (1987), Thug Life failed to impress even die-hard fans of Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam, and ultimately became troll material. While everyone involved was affected by the movie’s failure, Kamal Haasan was hit the hardest. Not only was it co-produced by his Raaj Kamal Films International, but Thug Life also became his second consecutive box-office bomb, following director S Shankar’s widely panned Indian 2 (2024).

Mounted on a reported budget of Rs 250 crore, Indian 2 grossed Rs 148.83 crore worldwide, according to industry tracker Sacnilk, while Thug Life fared far worse. It registered a global gross of merely Rs 97.25 crore against a reported budget of Rs 200 crore. While Indian 2 saw a domestic nett of Rs 25.6 crore on the opening day, the figure dipped significantly for Thug Life and stood at Rs 15.5 crore.

Widely regarded as a visionary actor-filmmaker in Indian cinema, the back-to-back failures of these two movies have indeed left a blot on Kamal’s career, particularly since he has played the lead role in only three films since 2020. His third outing, director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Vikram (2022), also produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, had, nonetheless, turned out to be a massive blockbuster, earning Rs 414.43 crore against a Rs 120 crore budget.

In between, Kamal also made an extended cameo appearance in director Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD (2024), which also fared supremely well, grossing Rs 1,042.25 crore against a budget of Rs 500 crore. However, the failure of the two recent movies in which he essayed lead roles has adversely affected Kamal’s box office prospects, and it remains to be seen how he will bounce back.