The Mani Ratnam-directed film Thug Life, which starred Kamal Haasan, became controversial after Haasan said that “the Kannada language was born from Tamil”. When the movie debuted in Indian theatres on June 5, 2025, it was met with criticism because of this comment and was not shown in Karnataka.
Thug Life has just quietly arrived on Netflix, less than a month after its theatrical release. Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam are the five languages in which the movie is currently accessible for streaming.
When Kamal Haasan, who is also one of the film’s producers, said at an event that “your language (Kannada) was born from Tamil”, the Tamil gangster action thriller caused a stir during its advertising campaign. Haasan declined to issue an apology for his comments in the face of intense criticism. According to reports, he also made the decision not to release the movie in Karnataka, which might have played a part in its poor box office results.
What’s Going On Right Now
Just two days before its one-month anniversary, Thug Life, which also stars Silambarasan TR, secretly debuted on Netflix on Thursday morning. Netflix wrote in a promotional Instagram post: “Who would prevail in this conflict between Rangaraya Shaktivel and death? *Thug Life* is now streaming on Netflix, and you can enjoy it in your preferred language—Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, or Malayalam.
Mani Ratnam, A.R. Rahman, Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan TR, Mahendran, Trisha Krishnan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Abhirami, Joju George, and other members of the production and music crew were among those identified.
Reaction of the Audience to the OTT Launch
Social media responses were varied, with some viewers saying they were not interested in viewing the movie online. On Netflix’s announcement post, a user left the comment, “Save yourself.” “Not interested,” wrote another. “I’ve already wasted my time and money watching it in theatres,” a third person remarked.
The Controversy’s Background
A political and cultural scandal was sparked by Kamal Haasan’s linguistic remark just weeks before Thug Life was released. The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and a number of Kannada language advocacy groups demanded that the movie be boycotted. Consequently, although being screened throughout the rest of India and in other markets, the movie was not released in Karnataka.
Despite being produced on a massive budget of ₹200–₹300 crore, *Thug Life* managed to earn around ₹90 crore, securing its place among the top-grossing Tamil films of 2025 — even though it fell short of fully recovering its costs. still fell short of commercial expectations despite the hype and enormous scale.
Netflix is currently streaming Thug Life.