Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam teamed up after almost four decades for the film Thug Life. The film, which touted to be one of the biggest Tamil films, bombed at the box office. Shruti Haasan, during a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, spoke about if the number game affected her father.
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Asked if Shruti had a conversation with her father about the film's disasterous performance, she said, "Normal people commenting on numbers wasn't a conversation even 10 years ago. It was not something that I ever thought of as an actress. I never thought about if I am in a Rs 200 crore film or a Rs 300 crore film. I just wanted my last installment of payment and leave. Now, the audiences are speaking that way. My dad comes from a time and a mindset where he put all of his own money back into cinema. He didn't spend it on a second property or a third car, it all went back into cinema. I don't think that numbers game affects him in the way that people perceive. It's more of a nouveau riche problem."
Shruti also shed light on the initial perceptions of the people around her when she stepped into the industry as Kamal Haasan's daughter.
She said, "In the beginning, I was really trying to find my feet in three industries. The Telugu industry was very helpful, and very lucrative financially, but most of all, they gave me my first taste of acceptance and the freedom to grow as an artist."
She continued, "People had perceptions about what this gentleman's daughter should dress like, sound like, look like, act like, behave like, and I very categorically decided that I will do what's right for my stride."
Shruti said people had no idea that she had been paying bills on her own, stepping outside the shadow of her father. At home, they barely talk about work, Shruti added. Shruti had no idea what Thug Life was all about until she watched it as a fan.
About Thug Life
Thug Life is directed by Mani Ratnam, who co-wrote the script with Kamal Haasan. Produced by Raaj Kamal Films International and Madras Talkies, the film stars Haasan, alongside Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Abhirami, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Nassar, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ali Fazal, Sanjana Krishnamoorthy and Tanikella Bharani. It marks the reunion of Haasan and Ratnam after their previous collaboration, Nayakan (1987).
