Kamal Haasan’s much anticipated movie Thug Life, directed by Mani Ratnam has experienced a remarkable decline in box office collections over its first three days. After a promising beginning, the movie’s earning has decreased, raising concerns on its overall performance.
The movie was released on June 5, 2025, Thug Life drew attention because of the reunion of legendary Haasan and Ratnam after decades. As per latest data of Sacnilk, the movie earned around Rs 15.5 crore net on its first day all over India. However, on the second day, the movie experienced a sharp drop of around Rs 7.13 crore, marking a 54% fall. On the third day, the early trends indicate profits of about Rs 0.87 crore, making the total collection to Rs 23.5 crore over the first weekend.
The movie occupancy rates also indicate a downward pattern. As per latest data, the Tamil version had a total occupancy of 26.64% whereas the Hindi version fell behind at 3.94%. The reach of the movie was further impacted by lack of launch in Karnataka, because of the controversial statement made by Haasan. Thug Life also faced strong competition from Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 5, which reportedly collected Rs 24 crore on its opening day, exceeding Thug Life’s two-day total earnings. The Hindi version of Thug Life also struggled to perform as on its first day it accumulated Rs 65 lakh and marked a further decline on its second day. The movie performance in non-Tamil regions were disappointing as limited audience engagement and low occupancy rates were marked.
Critics have also shared mixed remarks. While some hailed the performance along with the music, others were concerned with the pace of the movie as well with the screenplay. The movie was not able to maintain momentum beyond the initial hype and it failed to maintain the audience interest.
As Thug Life is entering its second week, the coming days will be important in determining its box office collection performance. For Thug Life, the movie performance till now reflects that even with star power and directorial prowess cannot guarantee a movie’s success.