Mani Ratnam defends Kamal Haasan romancing 28-year-younger Trisha Krishnan in Thug Life

The trailer of Kamal Haasan‘s Thug Life generated huge buzz and excitement among fans. However, at the same time, it also drew flak for Kamal romancing actors like Abhirami and Trisha Krishnan, who are 28 years younger than him. Now, in an interview with Mid-Day, Mani Ratnam has finally broken his silence on the backlash. (Also Read: Thug Life: Kamal Haasan apologises to fans for not collaborating with Mani Ratnam earlier)

Mani Ratnam reacts to 28-year age gap between Kamal Haasan and Trisha Krishnan

The filmmaker believes that though people judge relationships between men and women with an age gap on screen, it happens all the time in real life and said, “Let me put it this way, 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 filmmaker says the scene should be viewed in the context of the relationship between the two characters and 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.”

The teaser showed Kamal, 70, kissing Abhirami, 41, and romancing Trisha, 42. The scenes drew backlash on social media, with many internet users slamming the superstar for romancing actors with a huge age gap between them.

About Thug Life

Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan worked together in the 1987 film Nayakan, which proved to be a massive success. Now, the duo have reunited after 38 years for Thug Life, which is co-written by them. The film stars Kamal in the lead role alongside a stellar cast consisting of Silambarasan, Trisha, Abhirami, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Rohit Saraf and Baburaj. Produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies and Red Giant Movies, the gangster drama is scheduled to release in theatres on 5 June.