New Delhi: 

His comment sparked a huge uproar among Kannada politicians and activists, including Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra. The controversy sparked after Kamal Haasan said, “Actor Shivrajkumar is my family, and he lives in another state. That’s why he is here today. When I began my speech, I said, ‘My life and my family are Tamil.’ Your language (Kannada) was also born out of Tamil, so you are part of the same generation.”

Veteran Megastar and politician Kamal Haasan has recently made a statement that sparked debate and controversy about the connection between Kannada roots and the Tamil language. The controversial statement came amid the promotion of his new movie Thug Life, which was held in Bengaluru.

As just a week is left for his movie Thug Life to release in cinemas, will the controversy impact its earnings at the box office? In an exclusive conversation with News9, trade analyst Ramesh Bala opines on the same.

Will Kamal Haasan’s controversy impact Thug Life?

He further added that it all depends on what eventually happens on June 5, which is only one week away, whether the controversy dies down or flares up. “However, the movie has the potential to do a gross business of Rs 25 crore lifetime business in Karnataka, and if a Tamil movie does this kind of money, it is a blockbuster. The rights are bought for Rs 10 crore, and if it makes Rs 20 crore, they will break even and may even lead to profit. And a movie of this stature can do a business of Rs 20 crore to Rs 30 crore gross in Karnataka”, Bala told us.

Speaking to us, trade analyst Ramesh Bala, said, ”What would be the day one opening of Kamal Hassan’s film Bala said,“ Rs 75cr across the board and anything upside depends on Hindi as that is an unknown factor. Also, Pan India, Tamil movies have not done well in Hindi like Telugu movies do in the Hindi market.’’

When asked, will the controversy hamper the business of the movie, he added, “The controversy will not affect the business outside Karnataka. I remember Vikram did a business of Rs 430 crore, and if Thug Life is good, then it has the potential to do a business between Rs 400 crore and Rs 500 crore.’’

Kamal Haasan apologised

He further added that people of Karnataka have always supported him, when he had a problem with the CM (Jayalalitha), then too, people of Karnataka came to his help.

After receiving a lot of criticism and backlash, and seeing the boycott of his movie Thug Life by the Pro Kannada groups, the actor clarified his controversial remarks and said in a statement, “What I said was said out of love, and a lot of historians have taught me language history. I didn’t mean anything.”

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