Thug Life – My Flash Review!

Thug Life is a bad film, but not a bad film too. Now, what is this Kamalism? Let me explain.

For a Mani Ratnam film, it is indeed bad. In his entire filmography, this must be the most “UnManiratnam” film to date.  All the elements of his craft and film-making style, which endeared him to us, have been buried under the Himalayan snow.

 

For a long time, Mani maintained that he would never make a sequel to Nayagan because there was nothing to flesh out in that story. Thug Life is not a sequel to Nayagan. But why do you want to portray it as if it belongs to the same universe by retaining character names, character arcs, frames, etc., from Nayagan? This seems very unreal.

Being real was Mani’s main strength in his storytelling style, whether it involved dialogue, setting, emotions, or other elements. However, here he completely deviates from this principle. Why does this film have to be set in Delhi? Why does the film wander from Delhi to Jaisalmer to Nepal, Goa, and so on? Another example: Mani depicts a girl in the Delhi of 2016 committing suicide because her boyfriend betrayed her. Really? One more instance: post-interval, when the revenge sequence begins one by one, a la Apoorva Sagotharargal, there is a scene where transgender people are shown dancing in a mourning routine in front of a guy’s house before he is killed. Really?? Did Mani Ratnam conceive this??

It is also Mani’s style to be different in each of his films. Thug Life has a significant Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (CCV) hang over. And I can count at least a dozen references to his earlier films.

Generally, in Mani’s films, all characters are created with a purpose, each contributing to the narrative in a meaningful way. However, an overwhelming number of characters appear randomly, portrayed by popular character artists who fail to add any value to the film.

The essential plot points in the film, which are meant to elevate it to the next level, all arrive as a whimper. The writing here is reminiscent of the 70s.

Mani has always insisted that he doesn’t cast a star and write a story to pander to them. Here, he does precisely that with extended scenes to pander to the star value of Kamal. What was Vinveli Nayaga theme if not to pander to Kamal’s stardom?

On the subject of musical themes, I have this to say: while employing a melody from a theme song repeatedly in different moods is a commonly used technique, Rahman goes overboard here. He uses the Vinveli Nayaga theme for Kamal’s mass scenes, Anju Vanna Poove for Simbu and Aiswarya Lekshmi, Sugar Baby for Kamal and Trisha, and so on. Additionally, some random rap sequences and choruses used during stunt scenes seem like a lazy creative choice. The only relief was that the music was not loud and jarring.

Even in his films that didn’t work well, there were always some beautifully staged scenes that had a Mani Ratnam stamp on them. For example, in CCV, the scene when Prakash Raj is shot. In Thug Life, I could hardly locate a scene that had the Mani Ratnam imprint.

Taking a story from Kamal and developing it into a screenplay is always fraught with high risk. They tend to go above the head. The concept of a dead but living person, or a ghost who walks, in this day and age doesn’t pass muster.

As an actor, Kamal does a great job. For an actor, the close-up scenes are the acid tests. Here, with the camera tightly focused on his face, Kamal performs like a man possessed. I also thought he was trying to channel his inner Sivaji Ganesan of Thevar Magan in many scenes to good effect. Ravi. K. Chandran is brilliant with his camera work, particularly in the edgy scenes.

Many say that Mani Ratnam needs to adapt to the times and learn from new-age filmmakers like Lokesh Kanakaraj and Nelson Dileep Kumar. I feel the contrary. This film is problematic because Mani tries to create a mindless action film in the style of these filmmakers.

In conclusion, here’s my contrarian point. If it weren’t a Mani Ratnam film, it wouldn’t have been labelled a bad film. Several highly successful mass films in recent times have followed this syntax of illogical sequences, shifting locales, and action set pieces with an emotional core.

What is common among KGF 1 & 2, Pushpa 1 & 2, Leo, Vikram, Jailer, etc.? They were all celebrated by the audience, but they were films of the Thug Life variety. Thug Life is disappointing because it is a Mani Ratnam film.