The South Indian film industry was eagerly awaiting the release of 'Thug Life', which brought Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan together after 37 years. The film did not make much money after performing poorly at the box office. Despite having a great cast and crew, Thug Life failed to attract the audience, which also caused losses for the theater owners.
Although the movie collected 45 crores in the first week of its release, Thug Life's collection is very low compared to Kamal Haasan's film 'Vikram', which collected 168 crores in the same period. Following the film's poor performance, Thug Life was pulled by most theatres in Tamil Nadu. Instead of Thug Life, it was decided to screen the Mohanlal starrer re-release 'Chotta Mumbai' in some theatres in Kerala.
Theatre owners in Tamil Nadu have demanded compensation from Red Giant Movies, the distributor of Thug Life, and from producers Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam. Mani Ratnam, who had been bringing only good films to the audience, has been facing severe slurs online due to the failure of 'Thug Life'.