Thug Life box office collection Day 2: Kamal Haasan's film earns Rs 23 crore in two days, Housefull 5 matches it in 24 hours

Indian Express

21 hours ago

Thug Life box office collection Day 2: After a lukewarm opening, Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam's Thug Life dropped even further on the second day of release. The highly anticipated gangster drama reeled under the impact of the massive controversy that erupted after Kamal's statement on Kannada language, which led to the film's release being stalled in Karnataka. The impact continued into the second day as the film's box office numbers dipped further.
According to Sacnilk, the film started its box office journey on Thursday with Rs 15.5 crore, earning less than Kamal's last films Vikram and Indian 2, as well as Mani Ratnam's last film Ponniyin Selvan 2. It fell further on Friday, minting Rs 7.5 crore and witnessing a sharp 55 percent drop from its opening day. The film raked in Rs 23 crore in total domestic collections across the two days of its release.
On Friday, Thug Life's performance was further impacted by the release of the Hindi film Housefull 5. Thug Life had been billed as a pan-India starrer. However, the Akshay Kumar-led multi-starrer — part of a proven, bankable franchise — minted Rs 23 crore on its first day of release (the amount that Thug Life earned within two days of release), leaving the Kamla Haasan-starrer high and dry in the Hindi-speaking market. Thug Life had minted Rs 65 lakh in the Hindi market on its first day of release. According to reports, the film's earning fell to Rs 25-35 lakh in the Hindi market on the second day. On Friday, the film also recorded a meagre Hindi occupancy rate of 6.48 percent.
Thug Life's main market is the Tamil audience, but even in that region, the film has struggled to perform. It saw a 31.41 percent Tamil occupancy on Friday. Kamal's last blockbuster, Vikram, had minted Rs 60 crore in its first two days of release — far more than Thug Life's Rs 23 crore. Another of his previous films, Indian 2, which was panned by critics, still managed to collect Rs 44 crore in its first two days.
Comparing Thug Life to Mani Ratnam's previous films paints an even bleaker picture. Mani's last film, Ponniyin Selvan – Part 2, collected Rs 50.2 crore in its first two days, whereas Part 1 had collected Rs 65.35 crore in the same timeframe.
Despite its lukewarm performance, Thug Life still has a window to redeem itself over the first weekend. This will be a crucial period in determining its box office journey. Apart from Kamal, the film boasts an ensemble cast including Trisha, Silambarasan, Joju George, Ashok Selvan, Nasser, Abhirami, and others. To top it off, the film's music has been composed by AR Rahman.