Is 'Thug Life' following 'Indian 2's disappointing box office path?

The Mani Ratnam – Kamal Haasan film 'Thug Life', which premiered in theatres with considerable anticipation, is reportedly struggling at the box office. Released on June 5th, the movie has so far only garnered ₹40.52 crore from India. Its Monday collection amounted to a mere ₹3.62 crore, significantly less than even 'Housefull 5' – a Bollywood film released the same week, which earned four times as much on Monday despite its own negative reviews.

Globally, 'Thug Life' has accumulated ₹80 crore to date. This performance is notably poor when compared to recent films by both Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam. The film's collection hasn't even reached the figures of the widely considered disastrous 'Indian 2'. Despite an estimated budget of ₹300 crore, 'Thug Life' has failed to cross the ₹50 crore mark.

To put its performance in perspective, Lokesh Kanagaraj's directorial 'Vikram' collected ₹15.8 crore on its first Monday in India, following an opening collection of ₹32.05 crore. In comparison, Kamal Haasan and Shankar's 'Indian 2' earned ₹3 crore on its first Monday, with an opening of ₹25.6 crore. Current assessments suggest that 'Thug Life' is highly likely to become a major box office failure, much like 'Indian 2'.

Reviewing Mani Ratnam's recent works, 'Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1' (2022) garnered ₹19.05 crore on its first Monday after an opening of ₹24 crore. Similarly, 'Ponniyin Selvan: Part 2' collected ₹23.25 crore on its first Monday, after an opening of ₹24 crore. 'Thug Life's Monday collection also significantly lags behind Ajith Kumar's 'Good Bad Ugly' (₹15 crore) and Pradeep Ranganathan's 'Dragon' (₹5.8 crore).

Adding to the speculation, there are rumours that 'Thug Life' might soon move to an OTT platform. While Kamal Haasan had initially stated that the film would run in theatres for at least eight weeks, reports now suggest an earlier OTT release – possibly after just four weeks – due to its underwhelming box office run.