Thug Life starring Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan TR, Trisha, Ashok Selvan, among others is a Mani Ratnam directed gangster action drama that released in theaters on June 5, 2025. Before Thug Life's theatrical release, lead star Kamal Haasan, who is also the co-writer and co-producer of this movie had stated that the movie would make digital premiere only after an 8-week window, to accommodate the Thug Life Hindi release in National multiplex chains. 

Multiplex regulations in the Hindi belt of India, puts an an eight-week gap between any film's theatrical release, and its OTT premiere. Hence movies not maintaining this streaming platform window are usually not screened in major multiplex chains across North India.

 

However Thug Life's reception in theaters is mixed at best. At this time, buzz has it that Netflix has cancelled the 8-week deal agreed upon for the Kamal Haasan-Mani Ratnam film. Thug Life Hindi may still release after 8 weeks on July 31, 2025 or between August 1 - August 3, 2025. 

"I’m glad the OTT partners (Netflix) sat down with us and agreed. It wasn’t a negotiation; it was a plan. We hope others can follow this and it will make the industry healthy”, Kamal Haasan has said before Thug Life's release. 

However the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada versions of Thug Life is releasing earlier on Netflix. . The earliest expected Thug Life OTT release date is  July 3, 2025 (Thursday).  Thug Life has AR Rahman for music, and comes with a runtime of 163 minutes. 

Set in the shadows of 1990s Old Delhi, Thug Life is about how a betrayal during a gang truce sets off a decades-long saga of loyalty, loss, and vengeance. A feared don (Kamal Haasan) raised by guilt and love must confront the surrogate son (Silambarasan TR) who unknowingly became his enemy, all while unraveling a past that shattered a family, and shaped a blood-stained empire.