Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce bans Kamal Haasan’s ‘Thug Life’ release

BENGALURU: The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) has banned the release of Kamal Haasan-starrer ‘Thug Life’ over the actor’s controversial remark about the Kannada language during the audio launch of his movie in Chennai last week.

During the media interaction in Bengaluru on Friday, Sa Ra Govindu, representative of KFCC, said that they have decided to ban the release of Kamal Haasan-starrer ‘Thug Life’ in Karnataka as they stand firm with Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) and other Kannada organisations for their demands of halting the release of the film until the actor issues a pubic apology.

Kamal Haasan says Kannada came from Tamil

Hello @ikamalhaasan before making such claims, learn some real history. This land doesn’t need language lessons from Periyar fanatics

Kannada has a history spanning over 2,000 years, one of the world’s oldest living languages, with… pic.twitter.com/BQFUloI0Sg

— Akshay Akki ಅಕ್ಷಯ್ (@FollowAkshay1) May 27, 2025

Sa Ra Govindu said that Kamal Haasan has not issued an apology yet for hurting the sentiments of Kannada people during his promotional event in Chennai. He said, “When there is pressure, I have to do. Even Karnataka Rakshana Vedike were present; whatever they say, we should do it. Even they would speak about it. Definitely, there is no ‘Sorry’ term being specified anywhere by Kamal Haasan. We will surely not release the film. We (KFCC) will stand with Rakshina Vedike and other Kannada organisations.”

Kamal Haasan and his movie ‘Thug Life’ came on the radar of controversy in Karnataka after the actor reportedly stated that “Kannada is born out of Tamil” during a promotional event in Chennai.

#WATCH | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: On his recent remarks where he said, ‘Kannada was born out of Tamil’, MNM President and actor Kamal Haasan says, “… What I said was said out of love and a lot of historians have taught me language history. I didn’t mean anything. Tamil Nadu… pic.twitter.com/YjW8qAUIB3

— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2025

Following it, the protests were held near the INOX cinema hall in Karnataka’s Belagavi against Kamal Haasan. The protests were organised by the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike organisation, which expressed its anger and demanded the actor’s apology over the issue.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah criticised Kamal Haasan following his reported remark about the Kannada language, stating that he was not aware of the “long-standing” history of the language. “Kannada has a long-standing history. Poor Kamal Haasan, he is unaware of it”, the CM said.

Congress MLA from Karnataka Rizwan Arshad expressed his disappointment over Haasan’s remark, calling it unfortunate and questioning the necessity of such a debate at a time when national unity is paramount.

“What kind of a debate is this? The Kannada language has a history of thousands of years… Kannada and Tamil are ancient languages and part of our country’s foundation… Is this debate necessary at a time when all of us have to be united? … I did not expect Kamal Haasan to make such a statement. It is unfortunate,” Arshad said.

‘Thug Life’ is directed by Mani Ratnam and stars Kamal Haasan, Trisha Krishnan and Silambarasan T R in the lead roles. (ANI)