Thug Life box office collection day 1: Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam film record low numbers than Indian 2; Karnataka ban further impacts

Thug Life, the 2025 Tamil film starring actor-politician Kamal Haasan in the lead role, and directed by Mani Ratnam, has finally hit theatres. With not so favourable reviews, the film has opened to Rs 17 crore on the first day in India at the box office. Given Thug Life faced a ban in Karnataka, the numbers are favourable, even as the Kamal Haasan starrer has failed to earn as much as Indian 2 and Vikram’s debut collections.

Thug Life box office collection day 1:

Everyone’s eyes were on Thug Life, the film which saw the reunion of actor Kamal Haasan and director Mani Ratnam after 38 years since the release of Nayakan. Now that Thug Life is out in theatres, the film seems to have disappointed a lot. The gangster action drama has collected Rs 17 crore on day one India at the box office, as per Sacnilk report.

It is to be noted that the film faced a ban in Karnataka after the Papanasam actor had failed to apologise for his remarks on Kannada language being born out of Tamil. This has affected the overall collection of Thug Life on first day given the state holds a viewership for Tamil films. However, said that, Thug Life might see a rise in audience turnout during the weekend. With Rs 17 crore, Thug Life is trailing behind Indian 2 and Vikram, which collected Rs 25 crore and Rs 32 crore on day one respectively.

Thug Life OTT release

Known for films like Roja and Anjali , Mani Ratnam directed the film and co-wrote it by taking the story of Kamal Haasan. The gangster action drama features Simbu, Trisha, Nasser, Abhirami, Ashok Selvan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Joju George and others. Netflix has bagged the post-theatrical streaming rights of the film and will be available after eight weeks. AR Rahman’s score was welcomed by the audience, even as the film opened to middling reviews.