Ravi K Chandran, legendary cinematographer of Thug Life, on why the film hasn’t been liked, “I guess people expected Nayakan and not an action film from Mani and Kamal sir”

By Subhash K. Jha -

June 12, 2025 - 1:27 PM IST

Filmmaker Mani Ratnam recently reunited with Kamal Haasan after 38 years with Thug Life. The film has been receiving accolades for its cinematography by the legendary Ravi K Chandran, who also reunited with the filmmaker after long. He got talking about the film in an interview with us.

Ravi K Chandran, legendary cinematographer of Thug Life, on why the film hasn’t been liked, “I guess people expected Nayakan and not an action film from Mani and Kamal sir”

The one component of Thug Life which stood out was its cinematography. What was your brief from Mani Ratnam?
He said we will go classic style and make it look more cinematic. He wanted high contrast and deeper shadows and bright sunlight. He wanted the wedding song to have many dynamics between the characters… warm colours in the first-half and cooler and grey tones in the second-half in a subtle way.

What was it like getting together with the visionary after so many years?
It was a homecoming for me. I have worked as an assistant in Mani Ratnam Sir’s second film Unaroo in Malayalam (1984), which was shot by my brother Ramachandra Bab. I was an assistant then. So, it’s a forty-year long association… more than thrilled… and I was looking forward to see the legends dynamics in the set

How different was this experience as compared with your other collaboration with Mani Ratnam - Yuva?
Yuva had a different flavour. It had three distinct colours and styles, lensing for each character. Here we used anamorphic lenses for the first half and spherical for the second half. It has one nice texture to the images.

As far as I could see you used complete different looks for the action and the dramatic sequences?
As I mentioned, it had a film kind of look in terms of blocking and lensing. I had great actors and I could go really close with wider lenses and light them differently. If you look at the film, it has many wide close-ups. A lot of cinematographer friends asked me about it in detail. They all loved the look of it. They said, “It looks like it was shot on film.” My DI-colorist Ashirwaad from Prime Focus did a wonderful timing during colour grading and the production designer and costume designer helped me to achieve this look.

Why do you think Thug Life has not been liked?
Every film has its own life once it’s out in the market. I guess people expected a Nayakan and not an action film from Mani sir and Kamal sir.

Don’t you think your nuanced lensing will be lost on the OTT?
It will. I saw the film recently on an IMAX screen. The big images blew my mind. It gave the lensing a different meaning altogether. Watching films on OTT is a way of life now. I guess it will have a different impact for sure.

Also Read: “Real challenge included getting the nuances correct”- Director Ravi K Chandran on Prithviraj starrer Brahmam