Blood, Brotherhood, Betrayal. From the time world cinema began to be fascinated by the lives of gangsters, these three words have been the bedrock of every iteration of their story. More often than not, these gangsters escape the long arms of the law only to find themselves on the wrong end of the gun barrel. Godfather was no different.
Nayakan was no different. And even if we thought otherwise, or were told otherwise, Mani Ratnam-Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life, after a point, is no different. But till we reach that point, the film is a fascinating exploration of the life of an ageing gangster coming to terms with his frailties, and dealing with the same with sardonic wit and insatiable lust. But then, suddenly, Thug Life wants to become a revenge drama fuelled by age-old reasons for betrayal that makes you wonder… Is this really the Mani Ratnam-Kamal Haasan film we were waiting for?
When we meet Rangaraya Sakthivel Nayakkar (Kamal Haasan) for the first time, he is battling the idea of death. He is a senior citizen who seems to have developed a knack for escaping the clutches of death. However, as he narrates his story, we are introduced to the world of young Amar, who would grow up to be Sakthivel’s commander-in-chief. Mani Ratnam and the supremely effective Ravi K Chandran dish out a delicious sequence that gets us ready for a ride about two men, born out of violence, finding their lives inexplicably intertwined. Thug Life is very much about how these two strong-headed men find themselves at loggerheads. But it is also about how they are two ends of the same coin.
This coin is tossed around by various people around them, including Sakthivel’s brother Manikkam (Nasser), his henchmen Pathros (Joju George) and Anburaj (Bagavathi Perumal). Each of them have their reasons to want to be close to the throes of power, and it is interesting how they all play off each other and weave a web of deceit and lies. This is a particularly fascinating phase in the film because it is not every day that we see a vulnerable gangster. These portions play out like a Shakespearean tragedy riddled with wry humour that works like a dream.
Kamal Haasan plays Sakthivel with a childlike enthusiasm, and the character too reflects this mental state. Even when he is wooing his wife Jeeva (Abhirami), he is playful. Even when he is philandering with impunity by spending time with Indrani (Trisha), he has a spring in his step. Even when he is arguing with Amar and Manikkam about how to conduct the gang’s operations, there is a sense of levity to the proceedings. In fact, the humour works brilliantly, and it is a wonderful exploration of a facet not often seen in Mani Ratnam’s films. Thug Life builds up beautifully by bringing together the various pieces of this seemingly intricate puzzle to a common point — the need for power.
Sakthivel aka Chinnavar is all-encompassing and wants to be both the weapon and the hand that uses the weapon. This rubs everyone the wrong way, especially Manikkam, who isn’t even allowed to avenge the injustice meted out to his daughter. However, apart from Manikkam, the others don’t get a semblance of a reason to turn against Sakthivel, except for the simple thing called plot convenience. The same holds good for even Amar, and all of them come across as all brawn and no brain. The entire film is filled with men who don’t think at all.
Right from the criminals to the police officers, every single principal character in Thug Life is just daft. This can also be seen as an extension of the writing, trying to tell us the futility of violence and revenge. This can be seen as a deliberate attempt not to glorify this bunch of gangsters. None of the gangsters of Thug Life come out as people who are winners in life or people worth emulating. While this might seem like a great step ahead in this genre, it also takes away any sense of elevation to the characters and the narrative.
Once Thug Life steps away from the gangster drama space to become a generic revenge saga, which is the entirety of the second half of a 165-minute film, there is very little redemption. The film entirely rests on the shoulders of Kamal Haasan and Silambarasan, and both actors give it their all. However, Silambarasan’s Amar gets a raw deal in the film, and barring a sudden burst of energy in a scene with Trisha, there is not much that he is asked to do. Of course, he delivers a strong performance built on simmering rage and smouldering looks. But at what cost?
Kamal Haasan is terrific in a role that allows him to do a lot of things at once, and also revel in the minute Kamal-isms that he loves to showcase. There are some interesting conversations he has with various characters of the film, and every face-off allows him to slide in a wonderful line now and then. Be it the dialogue about Delhi’s tryst with blood-addled history or the ones about forgiveness and redemption, it is clear that even if nothing else happened, Kamal Haasan had a lot of fun.
We see him having fun with the violence, and even more fun with visuals of him recovering from the said violence. There is the Casanova coming to the fore, and Sakthivel is quite remorseless when he gets caught. He even pulls out a reason and a half out of nowhere to justify his infidelity, and it feels less like a genuine plea but more like a long con.
Trisha gets a fascinating character torn between the idea of freedom and the reality of it all. Abhirami’s Jeeva understands what it takes to be the wife of a gangster. Honestly, both are used as collateral in a film that is all about men and their machinations. Of course, a case can be made about the romantic liaisons explored in the film, but it is a world of mad men, and there is only so much method one can accord to madness.
But somewhere along the line, Thug Life loses its plot, cramming in one revenge plot after another, and also finds a way to loop in a conscientious but slightly crooked cop in Ashok Selvan’s Jai Royappa, who makes the roles of Trisha and Abhirami feel layered. And then there is one more angle to this story, but all of these don’t come together as a coherent film. Such contrivances are one too many in Thug Life that it cannot be easily ignored, especially considering the pedigree of the people involved in the film.
Also, with Mani Ratnam’s recent proclivity to use songs sparingly in his films, there are even fewer things to look forward to when there is little else going for Thug Life. While AR Rahman’s album was rightfully the rage, the songs are hardly there in the film to register an impact. The background score blows hot and cold in the film, as even the music has two minds whether to treat the film as a hard-hitting drama or a dark comedy about the dark underbelly of Delhi.
Considering Thug Life is more tell than show for most of the time, the film needed to operate more in the drama space instead of becoming an action extravaganza. While the action sequences were indeed fantastic, especially ones in a railway station, and a cramped home, they are, once again, crammed into the narrative with very little breathing space.
However, points to Mani Ratnam and Co for treating these stunts, and even the car chase sequences as part of the overarching theme of how Sakthivel and Amar’s lives are two sides of the same coin. These flourishes are very few in this film, which doesn’t really feel Mani Ratnam-esque.
Over the years, we have been trained to observe the magic of the mirror shots, the usage of trains, the beauty of lighting, and the like. And when Mani Ratnam was reuniting with the naayagan of Nayakan, one can’t help but want a lot more of such flourishes. It is often said that we can only react to the film that has been made, and not the film it could have been. But this wasn’t just any other film, right? It was Thug Life… the film that brought back Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan 38 years after Nayakan.
This was the film that was supposed to be Kamal Haasan ushering in a new order in Tamil cinema. This was the film that marked the first time AR Rahman and Kamal Haasan were working together since Thenali (2000). This was supposed to be the movie of the year. And as the credits rolled, there was just one question that kept ringing in my head…
Is this really the Mani Ratnam-Kamal Haasan film we were waiting for?
Film: Thug Life
Director: Mani Ratnam
Cast: Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan TR, Trisha, Abhirami, Nasser
Rating: 2.5/5
(This article originally appeared in Cinema Express)