Mani Ratnam breaks silence on backlash for Kamal Haasan, Trisha's 28-year age gap in Thug Life: 'It is a fact of life'

The upcoming gangster action drama Thug Life is one of the most awaited films this year as it marks the reunion of two accomplished artists, Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan after 38 years since their cult classic Nayakan in 1987. The trailer of Thug Life has left the audiences excited and anticipated for the film. However, it also faced backlash for showing the 70-year-old Kamal Haasan romancing much younger actresses, 41-year-old Abhirami and 42-year-old Trisha Krishnan.

Now, in an interview with Mid-Day, Mani Ratnam has broken his silence for the criticism that the trailer has received. The filmmaker said that people judge relationships between men and women with age gap on screen, but such things happen in real life too. Mani said, "Let me put it this way, in real life, there are people, slightly older, who have a relationship with a younger person, male or female. There are. It is a fact of life. It's been like that for a long time. It's not just now. When it's in cinema, we try to find fault with it or pass judgment on it, which means you are trying to cover or close your eyes to what is happening in your society and claim that it should be only this way."

The director, who has helmed classics such as Iruvar, Roja, Dil Se, Bombay, and the two Ponniyin Selvan films, further stated that the relationship should be viewed in the context of the characters, and not the actors playing those parts as he added, "It is (about) how these two people meet. It is not Trisha Krishnan and Kamal Haasan. It is (about) their respective characters. So that is what it should be. And if you see the film, the relationship, how it formed and whether it is real or not, then you can make a judgment, not based on Trisha Krishnan and Kamal Haasan."

Earlier, at the Thug Life press meet in Mumbai, Trisha had said that she was prepared for the backlash, but also felt that the pairing with Kamal Haasan would be magical. She had said, "I think that's something I knew when they announced the film and I had not even signed it. So that's when I knew, wow, this is magic. And I was not even part of the film at that point in time."

Apart from Kamal Haasan, Trisha and Abhirami, Thug Life also stars Silambarasan TR, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Nassar, Joju George, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ali Fazal, Sanya Malhotra, and Rohit Saraf among others. The AR Rahman musical will release in cinemas worldwide on June 5. 

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