Ram Gopal Varma Slams ‘New Age Hooliganism’ Over Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life Ban Threat; Deletes Tweet Later

Kamal Haasan, who is busy promoting his upcoming film Thug Life with filmmaker Mani Ratnam, has found himself in the middle of a controversy. His comment that Kannada language was born out of Tamil sparked backlash on social media, with many netizens even wanting to boycott his new film.

Amid this growing uproar, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma voiced his dissent on X (formerly Twitter), condemning the threats to ban the film as a new form of intolerance. “DEMOCRACY’s new name is INTOLERANCE..irrespective of factual correctness , threats to ban #ThugLife in Karnataka unless  @ikamalhaasan apologises , amounts to a new kind of HOOLIGANISM,”  he tweeted. However, he deleted the post shortly after.

The controversy erupted when at the audio launch of his upcoming film Thug Life in Chennai, Haasan opened with an emotional tribute to his Tamil roots, saying, “Uyire Urave Tamizhe” meaning ‘My life and my family is Tamil’. Turning to Kannada superstar Shivarajkumar, who shared the stage with him, Haasan added, “Your language was born out of Tamil. So, you are included in that line.”

Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) has now demanded an apology from the actor over his remark and threatened him of banning Thug Life in Karnataka.

The actor fiercely responded to the warnings by pro-Kannada groups who threatened to boycott his film and demanded an apology for his comment on the Kannada language, “It is a democracy. I believe in the law and justice. My love for Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala is true. Nobody will suspect it except for those who have an agenda. I’ve been threatened earlier too, and if I am wrong, I would apologise, if I’m not, I won’t.”

In a recent development, the actor has moved to the Karnataka High Court, seeking the release of his upcoming movie Thug Life in the state. He filed the petition through the CEO of his company, Rajkamal Film International. 

Directed by Mani Ratnam, Thug Life is slated for a global theatrical release on June 5. It also stars Trisha, Silambarasan, Abhirami, Sanya Malhotra, Ashok Selvan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Joju George, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Rohit Saraf and Vaiyapuri.