Kamal Haasan Interview: 'Thug Life' and 'Nayakan' Make You Understand The Futility of Violence

All eyes are on Thug Life as the film brings back the much-admired combination of screen icon Kamal Haasan and filmmaker Mani Ratnam, 38 years after the indelible crime drama Nayakan (1987). And what’s more, the film has been written by the two Tamil cinema legends.

In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Kamal Haasan says that he and Mani Ratnam share the same wavelength, even if they don’t share the same vocabulary. “We both wrote the film together. When I say we wrote it together, it's not the noise of two pens scribbling together. I finished what I perceived would be a good film to make. I finished a script, and it was called 'Amar Hai', which is a pun. A man who is believed to be dead is not dead. His name is ‘Amar’, and that is the problem. I had etched it, and then Mani took it as an idea and went on to embellish it,” he tells us.

Haasan adds that he was looking at various genres to place the film in. “But commercial considerations are important. We haven't renounced commercial cinema, but we are trying to up the game.” He adds that he never felt any gap with the filmmaker because they continued to stay in touch post Nayakan. “We have spoken about cinema for such a long time. Every time we talk, we don't talk about industry politics, but the kind of films we are working on. We haven't commercialised this combination, and now we have done it. We are think-alikes. That's how you find friends.”

One can also attribute this to their unspoken understanding of each other. And Haasan agrees. “On the set, people noticed the connection between me and Mani. I thought it was a secret, but everybody knew,” he says, noting that small exchanges are enough for the two of them to convey deeply about the scenes and syntax of a film.

In their last collaboration, Haasan played the iconic Velu Nayakar, a Tamil Mumbai kingpin who builds a stronghold in the city over the years of grit, grief and power. The film also deals with the cyclical nature of violence. Is Velu Nayakar a good man or a bad man? That is an answer audiences will have to ask themselves, Haasan says. 

“I have all my characters within me, including the villains. When I say that, I mean all the killers and blood-curdling screams; I have swallowed it for a peaceful social life,” the actor adds with a smile. “We are an evolving species, and I have the reptilian layers in me. That's why Carl Sagan (American astronomer and science communicator) says we have the tendency to bite good meat. And that is why when you see a beautiful pink child, you pretend to bite it. It is hardwired in us. And similarly in acting too, this violence comes out.”

People who make violent films detest violence, the actor observes. “When you see Jackie Chan films, you don't dislike violence because it is fun. But when you watch Thug Life or Nayakan, you will understand the futility of violence. It is not entertainment, but a responsibility. How do you deal with your strength?”

Thug Life co-stars Silambarasan TR, Trisha, Ashok Selvan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Joju George, Abhirami, and Nasser, and has music by Ratnam’s frequent collaborator AR Rahman. The film is headed for a June 5 release.

Watch THR India’s full interview with the actor on our YouTube channel.