Mani Ratnam’s gangster thriller Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan in the lead, is struggling to make the expected impact at the domestic box office.
What
- The film opened at just half of what Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s recent films have earned on their debut, and has since seen a steady decline in collections.
- On Sunday, its fourth day at the box office, Thug Life collected Rs 6.50 crore in India.
- This figure is lower than its earnings on Friday and Saturday, which stood at Rs 7.15 crore and Rs 7.75 crore, respectively.
- The downward trend was first noticeable on Friday, as the film’s earnings dropped to half of its opening day collection of Rs 15.5 crore.
- According to Sacnilk, the film’s total domestic box office collection across all languages after four days stands at Rs 36.90 crore.
- While it has crossed the Rs 35 crore mark, the number is modest when compared to the performance of Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s earlier hits, which earned similar amounts in under two days.
Background
Kamal Haasan’s last release, the vigilante action film Indian 2, directed by S Shankar, opened to Rs 30.25 crore across all languages and collected Rs 62.5 crore in its first four days.
Haasan’s 2022 action thriller Vikram, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, had a strong opening of Rs 32.05 crore and entered the Rs 100 crore club within four days of release.
Director Mani Ratnam’s last film, the 2023 period drama Ponniyin Selvan: II, opened at Rs 34 crore and crossed the Rs 100 crore mark over the opening weekend. Its predecessor, Ponniyin Selvan I, also performed well, opening at Rs 28.45 crore and crossing Rs 100 crore within the first four days in 2022.