Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam's highly anticipated collaboration, "Thug Life," has experienced a significant drop in box office collections on its second day, raising concerns about its long-term performance. The film, which reunites the iconic actor-director duo after 37 years, initially garnered mixed reviews and a moderate opening.

On its first day, "Thug Life" earned approximately ₹15.5 to ₹17 crore net across India. While Tamil Nadu contributed the most to the earnings, the film struggled to gain traction in Hindi-speaking and Telugu-speaking regions. According to early estimates, the second day saw a steep decline, with the film collecting around ₹7.5 crore, bringing the total two-day India net collection to approximately ₹23 crore. This represents a substantial drop of around 55% from its opening day figures.

The Tamil version of "Thug Life" maintained a moderate occupancy rate of 31.41% on its second day, with Chennai recording a higher occupancy of 59% during night shows. However, other regions in Tamil Nadu, such as Madurai and Coimbatore, hovered around the 25-30% range. The Hindi and Telugu versions of the film continued to struggle, with limited occupancy rates. The Hindi version had an occupancy of 6.48%, while the Telugu version registered 14.17%.

Several factors may have contributed to the film's decline on its second day. The release of Akshay Kumar's comedy "Housefull 5" on the same day appears to have impacted "Thug Life's" business, particularly in the Hindi-speaking regions. "Housefull 5" reportedly earned as much on its opening day as "Thug Life" did in two days.

Additionally, "Thug Life" has not been released in Karnataka due to Kamal Haasan's controversial statement regarding the Kannada language, which has affected the film's overall performance. For comparison, Kamal Haasan's previous film, "Indian 2," earned ₹3.45 crore on its opening day in Karnataka alone.

Compared to Kamal Haasan's previous box office hits, "Thug Life" is underperforming. His last hit, "Vikram," directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, earned ₹60 crore net in its first two days in 2022, while "Indian 2," despite being considered a box office disappointment, still managed to net ₹44 crore in its first two days.

Trade analysts predict that "Thug Life" may struggle to reach ₹5 crore net in Hindi during its entire run, which would be a disappointing figure for a star of Kamal Haasan's stature. The film's two-day collection of ₹23 crore is also significantly lower than "Vikram," which earned ₹60 crore net in its first two days, and even "Indian 2," which grossed ₹44 crore in the same period.

With the weekend ahead, the makers of "Thug Life" are hoping for a turnaround driven by positive word-of-mouth and fan support. However, unless there is a significant surge in occupancy across all language markets, the film risks falling short of expectations. The coming days will be crucial in determining whether the collaboration between Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan can recover at the box office.