Whenever I watch a film like Thug Life, a project directed by such greats as Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan, I wonder, after seeing the final cut, if the makers and actors feel they didn't reach their full potential, if they acknowledge their flaws. I say this because I was so disappointed after watching this film, perhaps because I was so eager to see it. The script simply wasn't up to scratch, and I never felt engaged with the story. What's even more disheartening is that it was one of those rare occasions where A.R. Rahman's music didn't complement the scenes at all.
Perhaps I wouldn't have called it disastrous, but rather good, if such big names hadn't been associated with the project. That said, let's find out what happened in Thug Life and whether our protagonist achieved what he set out to do. The film opens with a flashback to 1994 where we find Sakthivel, the real estate mafia, making a truce with his nemesis, Sadanand. Sakthivel always said that in his sector, enemies were not permanent. He believed it was always better to join forces and make a profit, unless there was a personal grudge between two people.
Director: Mani Ratnam
Writers: Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam
Stars: Kamal Haasan, Pankaj Tripathi, Trisha Krishnan
Although Sadanand pretended to have come to beg for forgiveness and wanted to live under Sakthivel's tutelage, he actually had no such intentions. Sadanand had informed the police about the whereabouts of Sakthivel and his gang, and as soon as he left, the police carried out a raid. Manickam, Sakthivel's elder brother; Pothros, his right-hand man; and all the important members of the gang were present inside the building, and without realizing it, they had fallen into the trap set by Sadanand. Although Sakthivel managed to escape from there along with his brother and other gang members, many innocent people living in the same building lost their lives.
One of the people who died in the crossfire was Amaran's father, who was delivering newspapers. The newspaper vendor's son saw his father die before his eyes. Sakthivel felt empathy for the boy, so he hugged him and ran away. Sakthivel would have been shot by the police, but the boy acted as a human shield. He knew the police wouldn't shoot him for him. From that day on, Sakthivel felt the boy was the reason he was still alive. The boy named Amaran had a sister named Chandra, who was present in the same building when the shooting started. Amaran couldn't find her until the end. Sakthivel told Amaran he would make sure Chandra returned home safely. But years passed, and no one knew what had happened to Chandra. Amaran began working for Sakthivel, and together they built a vast empire. Sakthivel never let Amaran feel like he wasn't his real brother, and Amaran showered him with his respect and love.
It was 2016 when, once again, Sadanand and Sakthivel crossed paths. Manickam's daughter had fallen in love with Sadanand's nephew, Ranvijay, and was pregnant by him. When Manickam's daughter went to talk to Ranvijay, she realized that he didn't really care for her, and in fact, didn't even love her. She felt guilty and didn't know how to confront her father. Manickam's daughter took her own life and, in her last note to her father, told him the reason for her decision. When Sakthivel found out, he kidnapped Ranvijay and asked Sadanand to meet him at a specific place.
Sakthivel killed Ranvijay before Sadanand's eyes, who felt extremely helpless to do anything to save his own blood. Sadanand accepted the reality, but Ranvijay's elder brother, Deepak Yadav, couldn't forget what had happened. He waited for the right opportunity and then orchestrated an attack on Sakthivel. Although Sakthivel survived, Sadanand knew it would ruin his relationship with him. Sadanand asked Deepak to leave the city and go into hiding, knowing what Sakthivel was capable of. Deepak went, but he still felt an inner passion and desperately wanted revenge on the man who had murdered his brother.
Sakthivel was arrested and sent to prison for a year. During that time, Amaran ruled in his place and managed the entire business. He even allied himself with Sadanand, something of which Sakthivel disapproved. It was at this point in Thug Life that we learned that Sakthivel's brother, Manickam, had a lot of issues with him. He was jealous of Sakthivel, as he had founded the gang, but now people considered Sakthivel the true leader. Sakthivel would never have overstepped his authority if Manickam had been able to lead his people.
Manickam didn't know how to run an empire, and had he been in charge, the family wouldn't have been able to progress as far as it had under Sakthivel's leadership. Furthermore, there were people close to Manickam who egged him on and told him how unfair it was that the younger brother was the leader while the older one stayed out of the way. When Sakthivel came out of prison, he saw that, somehow, people had started treating Amaran as a leader. They treated him with respect, but they still went to discuss business-related matters with Amaran. Although Sakthivel was not an insecure man, at that point in his thuggish life, he felt a little jealous.
Manickam decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity; he went and told Amaran that his father had been killed by Sakthivel back in his time and that the latter had been hiding the truth from him ever since. Somehow, even after what Sakthivel had done for him, Amaran believed those lies; he felt it was too easy to convince a man like Amaran, who was otherwise so steadfast and logical in his approach. So a plan was devised to get rid of Sakthivel and make him pay for his sins. Sakthivel was going to Mount Kailash, as his wife, Jeeva, had taken a vow after he was attacked by Deepak Yadav's men. Sakthivel went there unaware that his own people had plotted to kill him there. Manickam, Amaran, Pothros, and others attacked Sakthivel along the way.
Sakthivel fell off a cliff after being shot, and his enemies believed him to have passed away. News of Sakthivel's death spread like wildfire, and soon after, Amaran declared himself the new leader of the empire. Amaran had had his eyes on Sakthivel's lover, Indrani, for a long time, so the first thing he did upon returning from the trip to Mount Kailash was force her to marry him. Sakthivel's wife, Jeeva, lost her memory due to the trauma, and both she and their daughter, Mangai, left the house. Business flourished, and Amaran and the others had a wonderful time. But what they didn't know is that Sakthivel was still alive. Yes, after being shot, falling off a cliff, and being trapped in that hostile terrain, Sakthivel managed to survive. He remained in a Tibetan monastery for a couple of years, recovered from his wounds, and learned the art of combat. The old lion returned to the battlefield to teach a lesson to all those who dared to betray him.
The ending of Thug Life was so chaotic that it's impossible to understand the writers' intentions. Deepak was still lurking in the shadows, hoping to avenge his brother's murder. Sakthivel made a deal with Inspector Jai and asked him for 48 hours to find and kill Amaran. Amaran, on the other hand, planned to escape India because he knew what Sakthivel was capable of. Deepak planted a bomb in Amaran's residence, and sadly, Indrani lost her life in the explosion, as she was the only one present in the mansion. Indrani spoke to Sakthivel moments before her last breath. The film went to great lengths to justify their relationship and trick us into believing that it wasn't wrong for a man to love two women at the same time and desire a relationship with them. Sakthivel loved Jeeva, but made it very clear that he would continue seeing Indrani no matter what. Jeeva didn't have much of a choice, but because the film found a way to glorify Sakthivel's actions, no one questioned his morality.
Sakthivel killed his brother, Manickam, and questioned him until the very last moment why he had betrayed his trust. Sakthivel came face-to-face with Deepak and Amaran and was severely injured during the fight. Inspector Jai took him home and asked Chandra, a doctor by profession and his ex-wife, to keep him alive. It was then that Shaktivel realized that it was the same Chandra, Amaran's sister, whom he had been searching for for years. It was pure coincidence that Sakthivel found Chandra at Jai's house. Chandra, after being abandoned in the building, was rescued by Jai's father, who, in a sense, adopted her. Chandra married Jai, but after a few years the couple decided to separate. Jai's father loved Chandra so much that he supported her even during the divorce.
In the Thug Life finale, Sakthivel and Amaran came face to face once again, and the former confessed that he wasn't the one who killed his father. Sakthivel also told Amaran that he had finally found his sister and kept his promise. But before Chandra could reunite with his brother, Deepak arrived at the scene and killed Amaran. Sakthivel managed to kill Deepak, but was unable to save Amaran. Chandra held his brother's hand just before he breathed his last. Sakthivel felt like the unluckiest man alive. He felt like God had ended up taking everyone he loved. I believe Sakthivel left the world of crime because he had nothing more to gain. Sakthivel decided to spend the rest of his days with Jeeva, his daughter, and his grandson. Although Jeeva didn't acknowledge him yet, he knew that one day she would remember the beautiful moments they had together.
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