The Linguistic Issue That Opened the Doors of Parliament for Kamal Haasan Has Led to His Rejection at the Box Office

By Sharad Rai

On Friday, June 19, 2025, it is almost certain that Kamal Haasan — a pillar of South Indian cinema and a National Award-winning actor — will step into India’s Parliament. He has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Tamil Nadu government. It is believed that this nomination is a political reward to his party, MNM (Makkal Needhi Maiam), for supporting the DMK on the language issue and other matters. His party unanimously backed Kamal Haasan for the Rajya Sabha seat.

Reports suggest Kamal earned this reward first by remaining silent while Stalin opposed Hindi, and later by making controversial remarks about the Kannada language.

But as the saying goes — “As soon as you shave your head, it starts to hail.” Even before he officially steps into the Upper House of Parliament, Kamal Haasan has been hit hard in his most beloved domain — cinema. His latest release, Thug Life, has left him feeling cheated. The film has collapsed at the box office within just a week of its release. Made on a massive budget of ₹200 crore, the film is struggling to even touch ₹50 crore.

Thug Life Drops Sharply, Hindi Version Disappoints

Thug Life collected ₹15.5 crore on its opening day, but by the second day, the numbers had halved. From there, the film started crawling. By the 7th day, the collections had slumped to ₹1.25 crore, clearly indicating that even recovering its production cost is going to be a challenge. The biggest blow to Kamal Haasan’s film has come from the failure of its Hindi version — in the very country whose Parliament he is about to enter.

Kamal Haasan and director Mani Ratnam reunited after 36 years for Thug Life, a collaboration that raised expectations, hoping to recreate the magic of Nayakan. Kamal actively participated in promoting the film, with cinema and politics running parallel. However, failing to balance that mood, Kamal made some ill-considered statements that his film is now paying the price for. The total reported collection for the film’s first week is only ₹42.25 crore.

The film released on June 5. At a music launch in Bengaluru, Kamal, overwhelmed with Tamil pride, made a sweeping statement that Kannada was born from Tamil ('Kannad is born out of tamil'). This remark triggered widespread outrage across Karnataka. The state banned the film’s release. Protests broke out city after city, with posters of Kamal Haasan and the film being burned. Political parties like BJP and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s party came out openly against him. The backlash not only tarnished Kamal Haasan’s image as a film star across the country but also negatively impacted the film’s director Mani Ratnam — once celebrated for his classic cinema and artistic excellence.

Currently, straddling two boats — politics and cinema — Kamal Haasan seems to be losing his charm, a charm that once bridged South Indian cinema and Bollywood with Ek Duuje Ke Liye. For now, one can only say that as Kamal Haasan knocks on the door of the Upper House of Parliament, he finds the doors of cinema hitting him with the harsh hail of box office rejection.

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