Did not do 'KGF' to intimidate people, but to inspire: Yash

Mumbai: People have started noticing South films, says "KGF" star Yash, who believes the magnitude of his movie franchise's success came as a huge surprise to everyone in the country.

Yash became a pan-India star with the Prashanth Neel-directed Kannada action film “KGF: Chapter One” (2018), which featured him as Rocky, a high-ranking assassin in Mumbai who works his way to the throne of Kolar Gold Fields.

In April, he came out with "KGF: Chapter 2", which opened to bumper response at the box office when it was released across the country in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. It became one of the highest grossing films of the year.

Speaking at a session during the India Today conclave on Saturday night, Yash said earlier people used to make fun of films from the south, especially because of bad dubbing.

"10 years ago, dubbed films became very popular here (North). People used to make fun of South films. They would ridicule the action sequences but eventually, they got hooked on it.

"Initially, our films were sold for a meagre price. People would settle for bad dubbing and give random names for the films. Then, they started becoming familiar with our dubbed films," the actor said.

But things have changed for the better and the credit for it goes to SS Rajamouli and his blockbuster "Baahubali" franchise, he added.

"If you have to break a rock, it requires continuous effort. 'Baahubali' gave that push. 'KGF' was done with a different intention. We did not do 'KGF' to intimidate people, but to inspire.

"People have now started noticing South films. Before, we had a different budget to come here and market. Right now, with the digital revolution, we have the opportunity to showcase it to the world," Yash, whose real name is Naveen Kumar Gowda, said.

The 36-year-old actor revealed he had been waiting for the success of South films at the countrywide level for a long time.

"If it doesn't sound arrogant, I did want this to happen. I visualised it and I wanted this to happen. I was living this day, this success, 5-6 years ago. Right now, it doesn't affect me. I am kind of thinking ahead now. The scale of the success surprised a lot of people," he added.

The actor also rejoiced at the success of Rishab Shetty's Kannada movie "Kantara", which made its debut in theatres in October.

Yash believes people have now started looking up to Kannada movies for quality content.

"From my industry's perspective, we needed that attitude shift. When people talk about your industry in a certain way, it needs a lot of effort to break that notion. Many say that ours is a small industry and we don't have that kind of budget.

"I had a problem with that. So, I wanted to change that. Right now, people are looking up to the Kannada industry. The initial steps were important. My main agenda was to project the Kannada industry as another big industry which can deliver quality films. I believe audiences are not biased. If they like a film, they will celebrate it." Asked about the next installment of "KGF" franchise, the actor said there are plans to make a third chapter but not anytime soon.

"We have a plan, but not anytime soon. I want to do something else. For six-seven years, I have been doing 'KGF'. So, let's see. If everything falls in place, we will do 'KGF 3' later," Yash said.