Back in 2004, a young actor named Naveen Kumar began his acting journey with the television series Uttarayana. While working on another Kannada soap Nanda Gokula, the actor approached his director Ashok Kashyap with a request to change his name to Yash as he felt that the name was apt for his acting dreams. Now, 17 years later, the actor is referred to as ‘Rocking Star’ Yash. If the responses to KGF: Chapter 2 are anything to go by, Yash is not just a star in the Kannada film industry but is one who is recognised beyond language and geographical boundaries globally and can truly be called a global phenomenon.
KGF: Chapter 2 earned Rs 134.50 crore in India on Day 1 of its release. Trade analyst Ramesh Bala tweeted on Friday that the Hindi version of the film earned Rs 53.95 on its opening day, becoming the biggest opener in India. Trade expert Taran Adarsh also tweeted that the film demolished opening records of the 2018 film Thugs of Hindostan and the 2019 film War, which earned Rs 50.75 crore and Rs 51.60 crore on their opening days, respectively.
Literally, a mass rampage is going on in the Hindi belt as the film continues with its extraordinary run in the Hindi centres with no signs of slowing down at the box office. According to Taran Adarsh, the movie has collected another whopping Rs 42.90 crore on Saturday. It is estimated that the four-day extended weekend of KGF 2 will be upwards of Rs 180 crore as the business will see a significant jump on Sunday.
Back in 2018, when KGF: Chapter 1 was supposed to release, it was touted as the costliest Kannada film. The Yash starrer was facing severe competition from several Tamil and Telugu releases like Dhanush’s Maari 2, Vijay Sethupathi’s Seethakaathi and Varun Tej’s Antariksham 9000KMPH. The stiffest competition it was facing in the Hindi belt was Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero, the much-anticipated movie of 2018, which hit the screens on the same day as KGF. Even critics were not in the favour of the Kannada film. But, against all odds, KGF emerged as the winner at the box office at the time.
KGF: Chapter 1 reportedly earned Rs 25 crore on its opening day (worldwide box office collection), the highest opening in the Kannada film industry. On day 2, the film set several records in international markets including the United States of America. The film grossed around Rs 113 crore worldwide in the first week of its release, becoming the first Kannada film to gross Rs 100 crores.
In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, talking about the success of the first film Yash had stated, “I won’t say that doing better than a Shah Rukh Khan film in Hindi speaking belts is something I aspire to do. Ideally, I would want both the films to do well. But yes, the way North Indian audiences have responded has surprised all of us in the KGF team. In North India, they don’t know who I am. Yet they are clapping and cheering at my entry.”
The film enhanced ‘Rocking Star’ Yash’s image and helped him become a star outside the horizons of Sandalwood as the period action-drama was tailor-made for his abilities as a commercial cinema hero. So, what makes Yash such a phenomenon among the Hindi-speaking audience and the mass Hindi belts in North India?
The euphoria generated by Yash’s image has placed him ahead of all the other contemporary actors in the South region. He is making the most of these good times to strengthen his grip by choosing the correct scripts which are liked by not only Kannada-speaking audiences but across the globe.
His fans swear by him. I witnessed the Yash phenomenon when I went to watch KGF: Chapter 2 at 6 am on an IMAX screen in Mumbai. The theater was packed with hardcore Yash loyalists who would whistle and clap at every dialogue.
Sanjay Dutt, who plays the role of Adheera in the film, says that he enjoyed his time working with Yash. “He is an amazing actor and truly an action hero. He along with the team helped me a lot during the film and I am really happy that people are showering him with all the love that he truly deserves,” he told us in a recent interview.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh adds that it is the actor’s image that has created such a massive fan base. “He is truly a rocking star. In recent times, we haven’t seen an actor with so much style and swag. The macho hero seems to have vanished. Today’s generation is missing the macho man and that is what Yash has tried to get back with KGF,” he said.
The young actor started out like every other actor on a rather average note, with Jambada Hudugi (2007). He went on to score good hits, and even delivered a few flops as well, along the way. But he had a conviction within himself to take the Kannada industry to a global level.
During the promotions of KGF: Chapter 2, the actor mentioned that they wanted to bring respect to their industry (Sandalwood) and wanted to produce something big out of it. “We wanted the whole world to watch us. Earlier, looking at our industry people use to say Kannad movie, it’s not Kannad it’s Kannada. I hope people are realizing now,” said Yash, and claps were heard in the hall. Luckily, we got director Prashanth Neel, who carried a vision and skills, and Vijay Kiragandur who always wanted to keep the Kannada Industry on the world stage. And this is how we all came together and did it.”
While for everyone he is the public face of the film, very few people know that it was his personal and deep-rooted vision that got the franchise the stardom it has reached today, and if it wasn’t for him the story would almost have never made it to the big screen!
Director Prashant Neel mentioned that KGF’s 8-year-long journey gave them the confidence which helped them take the film to the next level. The filmmaker also added, “When we started, we never thought that we would be where we are today.” Crediting Yash, Neel extended his gratitude and said, “The only person that had this vision was Yash. We started this as a small Kannada project and today the film is really big and the expectations are very high.”
He also credits Yash for making a singular big Kannada origin movie into two parts and taking it to the world. We are also aware that Yash also penned his own dialogues since he believed in Rocky and could see through him.
Vishal Ramchandani, Business Head and Producer at Excel Entertainment, Mumbai, still remembers the time distributor Anil Thadani brought the makers of KGF: Chapter 1, and Yash, to their office in 2018 with a four-minute showreel of the film. “It was in Kannada, and though we did not know the language, it drew us in. Prashanth had created a fantastic world that blew us away. Later, Yash came down with a four-hour cut of the film, and literally translated every line for us. That was the kind of passion the filmmakers had, and we knew we would love to be associated with such a film,” recalls Vishal.
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