Kamal Haasan’s ‘Thug Life’ Faces ₹40 Crore Loss Due to Karnataka Ban Over Language Controversy

Kamal Haasan's long-awaited film Thug Life, which also stars actor Silambarasan TR and actress Trisha Krishnan, has released across India except Karnataka, where it was banned by the Karnataka government following Kamal Haasan's reference to the Kannada language.

The controversy stems from Kamal's comments that "Kannada was born out of Tamil" when he was promoting the film in Karnataka. The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, which represents the Kannada film industry, called for Kamal to apologize; he refused, leading to the ban being enforced.

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G Dhananjayan, the film's Producer and Distributor, estimates the loss of Karnataka would mean a loss of ₹35-40 crore gross revenue and loss of share for producers of ₹12-15 crore. This estimate is based on Karnataka's contribution to box office revenue for Citizen's, the makers of Hit Films: Pushpa 2, Baahubali 2, RRR, and Kalki 2898 AD, which collectively grossed ₹1000 crore worldwide and ₹74-104 crores in Karnataka.

Dhananjayan mentioned that Karnataka usually accounts for around 7% of total box office revenue of Telugu and Tamil films and suggested that for these films, to miss out on Karnataka, they risk the overall market worth.

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The controversy started on May 27, when Kamal Haasan stated the phrase that started the tussle, while promoting Thug Life in Karnataka. The Karnataka High Court indicated that a mere apology could resolve the problem, but condemned Kamal for being neither a linguist nor a historian.

The Tamil Active Film Producers Council cautioned that Karnataka's prohibition of Thug Life may damage the relations between Tamil and Kannada film industries.

Despite the controversy and limited release, Thug Life received mixed reviews from audiences and critiques.

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