Cinema legends Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan are reuniting on screen after 37 years for Thug Life, which is set to hit theatres on June 5. The duo, who last collaborated on the iconic Nayakan in 1987, were in Chennai on Friday to launch the film’s first single, titled Jinguchaa.

Speaking at the event, Kamal Haasan took a moment to reflect on why the duo did not collaborate in the past four decades. “Nothing has changed between Mani Ratnam and me even after all these years. It's our fault for waiting for so long to come together. We were in search of better scripts and it took this long for us to collaborate.”

“We are now working together again because of you, the audience - who want us to work together again. We should have collaborated earlier. I’m sorry,” Haasan added.

Apart from leading the cast for Thug Life, Haasan has co-written the film with Mani Ratnam.

“I am reminded of K Balachander when I see Mani Ratnam’s style of working. He knows what a huge compliment this is. This is our mutual respect. I even have a nickname for Mani Ratnam! ‘Anju ara’ Mani Ratnam (meaning 5.30 am Mani Ratnam) because of how early he was every single day during the shoot,” Haasan shared.

Veteran filmmaker Mani Ratnam also took the stage to shower praise on his lead actor, calling Kamal Haasan an unrelenting force in cinema.

"It is not just that he's a brilliant actor. The whole world knows that. It is the fact that he still loves cinema and has this unique talent of balancing between mainstream cinema and still breaking barriers on the other side,” Ratnam said.

“He takes care of a lot of things. Not only himself, but people around him, all actors around him, so it makes it believable and very real... What surprises me is that the enthusiasm has not changed at all. The passion for it and the search has not changed. It's still there. And (he's) not willing to settle for the easier option,” the Ponniyin Selvan director added.

Thug Life boasts an ensemble cast including Trisha, Silambarasan, Joju George, Ashok Selvan, Nasser, and Abhirami. A.R. Rahman has composed the music for the film, with Ravi K Chandran handling cinematography and A Sreekar Prasad on the edit table. Thug Life is jointly produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies, and Red Giant Movies.