‘Thug Life’ review: Loads of style and some substance too

Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life has an array of ruffians. The Tamil movie’s biggest thug is arguably its director, who muscles his way through a slight storyline with trademark brio.

In the gripping opening sequence, Amar loses his father and sister in quick succession during a gunfight. The orphaned Amar (Silambarasan TR) is raised by the gangster Sakthivel (Kamal Haasan). Sakthivel’s operation includes his brother Manickam (Nassar) and the henchmen Pathros (Joju George) and Anburaj (Bagavathi Perumal).

The green-eyed monster rears its head when Sakthivel anoints Amar as his heir, and runs hither and tither when Amar decides to bite the hand that has fed him. The older man’s rival Sadanand (Mahesh Manjrekar) and police officer Jaikumar (Ashok Selvan) are among those trying to take advantage of what turns out to be the Battle of the Man Buns, magnificent specimens of which are sported by Aman and Sakthivel.

Thug Life continues Ratnam’s career-long preoccupation with the lingering effects of the early loss of innocence. The ghost of Nayakan (1987), in Ratnam directed Kamal Haasan, flits through Thug Life, daring the new film to match its poignancy.

Thug Life, written by Ratnam and Haasan, also contains a smattering of Ratnam’s Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018), about the gradual implosion of a family of criminals. There is a timeless, fable-like quality to Thug Life’s treatment of filial...

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