Thug Life starring Kamal Haasan in the lead is an upcoming Tamil action drama, that marks the reunion of the star actor with ace filmmaker, and Kamal Haasan's nephew-in-law (niece's husband) Mani Ratnam. While their previous outing Nayakan (1987) was loosely based on the American classic The Godfather (1972), Thug Life co-written by Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam, is supposed to be on the lines of Francis Ford Coppola directed The Godfather Part III (1990). 

Thug Life also marks the reunion of Kamal Haasan with music composer AR Rahman after Thenali (2000) and Indian (1996), with actress Trisha after Thoonga Vanam (2015), and Manmadhan Ambu (2010), and with actress Abhirami after cult hit Virumaandi (2004).

Thug Life marks the maiden collaboration of actors Kamal Haasan and Silambarasan TR, and all you need to know about the movie here:  

• FDFS: 4 AM IST (USA, UK, Qatar), 7 AM (Coimbatore), 9 AM (rest of Tamil Nadu)

• Release Date: June 5, 2025 (Thursday)

• Release Format: Standard, IMAX, 4DX, D-Box, ICE, MX4D, ScreenX, EPIQ

• Language: Tamil, Telugu (Dubbed), Hindi (Dubbed), Malayalam (Dubbed), Kannada (Dubbed)

• Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller

• Censor: U/A

• Runtime: 165.42 minutes [2 hours 45 minutes 42 seconds]

• Plot: Rangaraaya Sakthivel Naicker (Kamal Haasan), an aging gangster is presumed dead, and his disappearance elevates his adopted son Amar (Silambarasan TR) to the head of the mafia. But Sakthivel’s return triggers a deadly game to reclaim his legacy, and confront the tangled destinies of father and son.

• Cast/Characters
  • Kamal Haasan - Rangaraya Sakthivel Naicker, noted gangster
  • Silambarasan - Amar, Shakthivel Naicker's adopted son
  • Trisha - Indhrani, a playback singer
  • Abhirami - Annalakshmi, Sakthivel Naicker's wife
  • Aishwarya Lekshmi - Amar’s girlfriend
  • Ashok Selvan - Police Officer
  • Joju George
  • Nassar - Rangaraaya Manickavel Naicker
  • Pankaj Tripathi
  • Sanjana Krishnamoorthy - Sakthivel Naicker's daughter
  • Mahesh Manjrekar - Minister
  • Tanikella Bharani
  • Vadivukarasi
  • Chinni Jayanth
  • Vaiyapuri
  • Bagavathi Perumal
  • Baburaj
  • Ali Fazal
  • Rohit Saraf
  • Arjun Chidambaram
  • Chetan
  • Rajshri Deshpande
  • Velmurugan Ravi
  • Srikanth Menon
  • Nithya Shree
  • Rishi Karthick
  • Sanya Malhotra - special appearance in the song "Jinguchaa"

• Writing: Mani Ratnam, Kamal Haasan
  • Telugu, Hindi dialogues: Cuckoo Dubbing Nest

• Direction: Mani Ratnam

• Music: AR Rahman

• Audio Label: Saregama India Limited, A RPSG Group Company

• Lyrics
  • Karthik Netha, Siva Ananth, Kamal Haasan, AR Rahman, Paal Dabba, thoughtsfornow, Shuba, Prashanth Venkat (Tamil)
  • Anantha Sriram, Shuba, Prashanth Venkat, thougtsfornow (Telugu)
  • Mehboob, Shuba, Prashanth Venkat, thougtsfornow (Hindi)

• Playback Singing
  • Vaishali Samant, ShakthiSree Gopalan, Adhithya RK, Alexandra Joy, Shubha, Sarath Santosh, Dhee, Shruthi Haasan, AR Ameen, Charulatha Mani, Paal Dabba, Rakshita Suresh, thoughtsfornow, AR Rahman (Tamil)
  • Mangli, Sri Krishna, Aashima Mahajan, Vaishali Samant, Alexandra Joy, Nakul Abhyankar, Shuba, Chinmayi Sripada, AR Ameen, Charulatha Mani, Adhitya RK, Rakshita Suresh, thoughtsfornow, Vijay Yesudas (Telugu)
  • Sukhwinder Singh, Ronkini Gupta, Aashima Mahajan, Vaishali Samant, Nikitha Gandhi, Shuba, Sashwath Singh, Chinmayi Sripada, AR Ameen, Sneha Shankar, Nitesh Aher, Shifa Ruby, thoughtsfornow, Vijay Prakash (Hindi)

• Cinematography: Ravi K. Chandran

• Edit: Sreekar Prasad

• Action: Anbariv

• Production Design: Sharmishta Roy

• Choreography: Kruti Mahesh

• Costume Design: Eka Lakhani, Amritha Ram (Kamal Haasan)

• Special Make up: Akihito Ikeda (Kamal Haasan)

• Hair & Makeup: Ranjith Ambady

• VFX Supervisor: H. Monesh

• DI Colorist: Ashirwad Hadkar

• Chief Re-Recording Mixer: Craig Mann (Whiplash (2014) Oscar-win fame)

• Sound Design: Anand Krishnamoorthi

• Stills: ‘Stills’ Anandan

• Publicity Design: Gopi Prasannaa

• Production: Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies, Red Giant Movies

• Distribution:
  • Tamil Nadu - Red Giant Movies
  • Andhra Pradesh, Telangana - Shreshth Movies
  • Overseas - AP International, Home Screen Entertainment
    • USA - Prime Media
    • UK, Europe - Ahimsa Entertaiment

• OTT (Post-Theatrical): Netflix

• Satellite (Post Theatrical): JioStar TV Network