Why Did Thug Life Make Trisha Nervous?

Thug
Life,
the
next
big
offering
from
Tamil
cinema,
is
carrying
high
expectations!

The
film’s
dream
team
—
the
legendary
Kamal
Haasan,
Director
Mani
Ratnam,
Composer
A
R
Rahman
and
actors
Silambarasan
TR,
Trisha
Krishnan,
Ashok
Selvan
and
Abhirami
—
launched
its
Hindi
trailer
in
Mumbai.

Rediff‘s

Mayur
Sanap
and

Hitesh
Harisinghani
bring
to
you
all
the
action.

Silambarasan
TR,
fondly
called
Simbu
by
his
fans,
received
overwhelming
requests
to
say
a
dialogue
from
the
film.
While
some
asked
him
to
say
a
line
in
Tamil,
others
wanted
it
in
Hindi!

The
actor,
looking
slightly
bemused,
asked:
“Why
this
problem,

yaar?
It’s
just
a
movie.
Relax!”

But

Thug
Life
is
not
just

any
movie.

It
marks
the
union
of
Mani
Ratnam
and
Kamal
Haasan
after
38
years.
The
two
stalwarts
first
worked
together
in
the
1987
Tamil
film,

Nayakan.

Kamal
has
been
recognised
as
one
of
the
first
‘Pan-India
stars’
even
before
the
term
became
widely
used.

“That’s
not
all
my
doing.
Most
of
it
was
your
(the
media’s)
doing.
And
then
Mr
K
Balachander
(director,
Arangetram).
He
picked
me
up
and
brought
me
here.
It
worked.
They
made
it
work,”
smiled
Kamal.

Trisha,
who
collaborates
with
Mani
Ratnam
after

Ponniyin
Selvan,
said
she
was
slightly
apprehensive
about

Thug
Life.

“This
was
very
different
for
me.
I
remember
when
I
first
walked
into
Mani
sir’s
office
and
he
narrated
a
little
line
about
the
character…
He
said,
‘I
need
you
to
unlearn
everything
that
you
did
in

PS.
It’s
in
complete
contrast
of
that
kind
of
a
role.’
It
was
challenging
because
I
was
wary
about
whether
I
would
suit
this
character.
But
we
worked
a
lot
on
that.”

WATCH:
What
Trisha
loves
about
the
song

Sugar
Baby

Thug
Life
is
the
story
of
a
gangster
(Kamal
Haasan)
who
takes
a
young
man
(Simbu)
under
his
wing.
What
follows
is
the
Kamal-Simbu
face-off
as
they
battle
it
out
for
power.
The
story
has
been
written
by
Kamal
Haasan
and
Mani
Ratnam.

Talking
about
their
on-screen
rivalry,
Simbu
admitted
he
was
nervous
during
the
initial
days
of
filming

Thug
Life,
but
both
Kamal
Haasan
and
Mani
Ratnam
made
him
feel
comfortable.

What’s
working
with
Kamal
Haasan
like?
Simbu
tells
you
in
the
video
below.

Mani
Ratnam
spoke
about
his
special
bond
with
Kamal
and
how
the
superstar
laid
out
a
path
for
filmmakers
like
him.

“I
was
lucky
that
before
I
got
into
it
(cinema),
or
just
when
I
was
trying
to
get
into
it,
to
be
able
to
interact
with
him.
So
I
knew
there
was
somebody
who
was
making
a
big
path
for
all
of
us
to
come
in
and
that’s
what
he
has
done,”
Mani
Ratnam
said.

When
asked
about
his
initial
impression
of
Kamal,
the
filmmaker
recalled
an
incident
during
the
making
of

Sadma.

“I
remember
when
he
was
planning

Sadma
in
Tamil,
I
think
this
is
a
story
that
I
have
heard
so
that
is
what
etched
in
my
mind.
When
he
heard
the
narration
(of

Sadma),
he
came
back
and
enacted
that
scene
in
the
compound
to
tell
them
what
the
scene
was.”

WATCH:
Kamal
Haasan
talks
about
his
friendship
with
Mani
Ratnam
and
their
deep
mutual
love
for
cinema

Thug
Life
opens
in
cinemas
on
June
5.

Photographs
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff