"When Prashanth made 'Ugramm', no one bought satellite rights" - Yash on supporting new talent

Rocking Star Yash broke all PAN India records with KGF and put Kannada industry on the National map. After the massive success of KGF 2, the superstar recently announced his next film, Toxic - A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups, which he is not just headlining as an actor but also co-producing.

Yash recently attended an event where he was asked about the Kannada industry. In his response, the actor shared a very important perspective on giving a platform to budding talent. “We should also support new talent. New talent will put in maximum effort, and if they do not receive support, they may deviate or even quit.”

He recalled KGF director Prashanth’s Neel’s challenges during his first film. “When Prashanth Neel made his first film Ugramm, no one bought the satellite rights. Prashanth himself produced that film, and I know how much he struggled for that. It was bought much later that too via a third party. After that, KGF happened because we believed in his talent and not his previous movie’s box office collection. It’s important to identify the potential in people, encourage and nurture their talent, even if the film doesn't do well.” 

Interestingly, when it comes to giving opportunities to fresh talent, Yash indeed walks the talk. Rocking Star has been known for giving opportunities to new people, be it casting them in his films, bringing them onboard as technicians, or the directors he collaborates with. In fact, he is known for working with fresh directors and has delivered iconic films with them. Over the years. He has collaborated with as many as ten directors who were making their directorial debuts or were only one or two films old. His collaborations with new directors like Pawan Wadeyar, S Krishna, Guru Deshpande, Dr Suri, Pradeep Raj, Manju Mandavaya, Santhosh Ananddram resulted in superhits and blockbusters like Googly, Gajakesari, Raja Huli, Lucky, Kirathaka, Masterpiece and Mr and Mrs Ramachari, which was the highest grossing Kannada film until KGF. 

With the superstardom and blockbuster successes he had in the Kannada film industry, everyone had the confidence to invest in a PAN India project like KGF, which set the bar higher not just for Kannada, but Indian cinema.

His next film, Toxic, slated to release on 10th April, 2025, will be directed by Geetu Mohandas, whose previous directorial was India's nomination for Oscars in 2014.

While Geetu has won many accolades, Toxic with Yash marks her first big budget, multilingual, massy entertainer. The association has caused a lot of intrigue amongst audiences, who are anticipating this to be an association that could take Indian cinema to the next level globally.