Mani Ratnam revealed how Nayakan and Thug Life happened. "Right after Mouna Ragam, I was back home. When Muktha Srinivasan suddenly dropped by, and he handed me a videocassette, saying it was something Kamal Haasan wanted me to watch.
It was a Hindi film, but I hesitated. I told him, 'I'm not the right fit for the project.' He returned the next day, and I repeated my stance. Srinivasan simply said, 'Then tell that to Kamal directly.'"
That meeting changed everything. "Kamal was warm, curious. He asked me plainly, 'What's the issue?' I told him I'd love to work together, but I had a different kind of story in mind-not the one on that cassette. I shared some ideas. He listened. And that's how Nayakan was born.
Then one day, Kamal calls me again, just as casually, and says, 'Let's make a film.' That film became Thug Life. The spontaneity was the same. The passion, still intact. Kamal, even after all these years, remains unchanged where it matters most-his hunger to create, to collaborate, to challenge the norm."
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Sudhakar Reddy is releasing the Telugu version through Sreshth Movies.