Bengaluru, 18 June

The Karnataka distributor of actor Kamal Haasan's film 'Thug life' on Wednesday said he won't release the flick in the state now, despite a favourable court order as he believes it won't do good business two weeks after its release across India.

Distributor Venkatesh Kamalakar's comments came a day after the Supreme Court allowed the release of the Mani Ratnam directed film.

On a petition filed by a Bengaluru resident seeking the release of the film in Karnataka, the Supreme Court had on June 17 held that it is the duty of the state to ensure that a film is released in theatres once it gets a Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certificate.

Speaking to PTI, Kamalakar, the distributor of the film in Karnataka said it also does not make sense to release the film considering that Kannadigas’ sentiments were hurt by what Haasan had said about Kannada language.

“But mostly it is because it is not a good business decision to release the film now. His previous film ‘Indian 2’ also did not do well here in Karnataka,” said Kamalakar.

The distributor said Haasan’s ‘Vikram’ did well in Karnataka, but he does not have a fan base here that will blindly go to his film, no matter what.

“When it comes to his films, the success depends on how good it is. ‘Thug Life’ is generally considered as not a good film by many. So, it is too risky,” said Kamalakar, who distributes mostly big budget Tamil films in Karnataka.