The success of director S.S. Rajamouli‘s period action movie RRR not only shed new light on mainstream Indian movies, but it also afforded Indian filmmakers bigger budgets. RRR grossed $170 million worldwide in 2022, but did you know that it almost missed being the highest-earning Indian film of that year? RRR was nearly overtaken by the Kannada-language crime epic KGF: Chapter 2, which grossed roughly $160 million worldwide at one-fifth the cost. KGF: Chapter 2 was headlined by Yash, who emerged as one of India’s most popular stars following the film’s success. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he has remained largely underground in the four years since; he hasn’t acted in any films and has also avoided public events and commercials. Yash will make a comeback this year with two major projects, the first of which received a new teaser this week.
He will also play the antagonist Ravana in the upcoming epic Ramayana, starring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role and based on the mythological text of the same name. Ramayana is poised to become India’s most expensive movie, with a reported budget of $150 million, and a score co-composed by Oscar-winners Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman. The movie will be released worldwide ahead of the Diwali festival later this year, with a sequel slated for the same period in 2027. Some months before the release of Ramayana, however, Yash will star as the anti-hero protagonist of the period crime epic Toxic. Directed by Geetu Mohandas, who broke out with the tender same-sex romance film Moothon some years ago, Toxic has already been controversial for its over-the-top violence and gratuitous sexuality.
The ‘Toxic’ Teaser Unleashes Sensory Overload
The new teaser, which was released on Friday, shows Yash’s character preparing a revenge mission of sorts after seemingly being betrayed. The teaser reveals the film’s epic scale, with sequences set in a circus, on the high seas, and even snowy mountains. There’s a dogfight in the air, a car chase, and even a dockyard skirmish. Amid all this is unrelenting violence, with throats being dragged across naked glass, stabbed with broken liquor bottles, and severed with chainsaws. Toxic also features plenty of imagery from gangster epics and samurai movies. The movie also stars Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, and Tara Sutaria in supporting roles. It’ll be released across the globe in several Indian languages on March 19. You can watch the new teaser down below. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.