Pro Kannada groups call for ban on Kamal Haasan's Thug Life in Karnataka after his comments

Kamal Haasan

Actor Kamal Haasan's recent comments at a promotional event of his upcoming movie Thug Life have stirrred a controversy.

Kamal Haasan was in Chennai for the film's audio launch earlier this week where he was also joined by Kannada star Shivarajakumar. During his speech, Kamal started his speech with “Uyire Urave Tamizhe (My life and my family is Tamil language)."

He then went on to say “Actor Shivarajkumar is my family living in another state. That’s why he is here. That’s why when I started my speech, I said ‘my life and my family is Tamil’. Your language (Kannada) was born out of Tamil. So you are included in that line."

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The video has gone viral since then and now many pro-Kannada groups have slammed the veteran actor for his remarks and many are even seeking a ban on the film in Karnataka.

Many people on X are saying it is 'necessary to teach Kamal Haasan a lesson'.

Another person tweeted: "Ban his film THUG LIFE in Karnataka, with all due respect, Kamal should have had some sense in his head before blabbering white lies."

One more person tweeted: “I fully support Kannada activists in any action they take against Kamal Hassan, like boycotting his films, demanding an apology or massive protests they are going to do in the next couple of days across Bengaluru.”

Thug Life is Kamal's first collaboration with Mani Ratnam in 38 years, following their cult hit Naayakan, which released in 1987.

Aside from Kamal, the film stars Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Rohit Saraf, and Baburaj. Thug Life is going to release on June 5, 2025.