New Delhi:

Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam have reunited for their latest film Thug Life after 38 years. During the promotions of the film in Mumbai recently, the two stalwarts shared their first impressions of each other. 

During an event, the host asked Mani Ratnam about his initial impression of Mr Haasan. The filmmaker replied, “I remember when he was planning Sadma in Tamil…I think this is a story that I have heard, so that is what etched in my mind. When he heard the narration (of Sadma) and he came back, he enacted that scene in this compound to tell them what the scene was.”

He added, “So, that’s the kind of person he (Kamal Haasan) was and I was lucky that before I got into it (filmmaking) or just when I was trying to get into it, to be able to interact with him. So I knew, there was somebody who was making a big path for all of us to come in and that’s what he has done.”

On the other hand, Kamal Haasan said they were friends first and then became professional collaborators. “My first impression is that I know him as a friend living in the same area. I didn’t even know that he belonged to a film family. He was a person. I like the way he spoke, we became friends, and we had a group of friends. We were talking only cinema and no gossip. And, that’s where it started,” he shared.

Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam worked in the 1987 film Nayakan. Recalling his memories of working with him, Kamal Haasan said, “When we were doing Nayakan in Colaba and Ramesh Sippy sahab was also shooting in the film city, we also had some shots there. So, we all went to see the shooting of Mr. Ramesh Sippy. We are ultimately, the qualification that brought us here is that like you, we are fans, film buffs. 

“That’s what brought us here. We’ll go to any set to watch anybody work, especially those who we consider as talented, we’d like to watch them work. And that’s what we did.”

Thug Of Life stars Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Sanya Malhotra, Joju George and Nassar.