Kannada star Yash didn’t have a single movie release for nearly four years after his KGF 2 blockbuster, and fans were left wondering what his plan was. When Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups was announced with director Geetu Mohandas, it was a massive celebration for fans who were desperately yearning to see him on screen again.
Despite its star cast and luxurious filmmaking, Toxic, which Yash co-produced, didn’t strike gold at the box office and received mostly negative reviews from critics. However, Yash was not deterred by its failure as he had his eyes set on his next project, Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana, which he was also co-producing.
Today, Ramayana: Part 1 has grossed more than Rs 1200 crore (Sacnilk) worldwide since its release on November 5 ahead of Diwali. And one of the film’s biggest strengths, along with the visually captivating VFX, according to the audience and critics, is Yash as Ravana.
The difference between Toxic and Ramayana for the Kannada star is very interesting from a career perspective since both these films fall at different ends of the spectrum. But director Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana is a completely different proposition. Unlike Toxic, which relied heavily on Yash’s established mass-star image, Tiwari’s ambitious and revered mythological epic gives the actor an opportunity to explore a character with considerable emotional, psychological and dramatic depth. What Yash brought to the character of Ravana – and hence the Ramayana – was his star power, magnificent physicality and, more importantly, a sense of psychological complexity that is tough to portray. His imposing screen presence further enhanced the ten-headed Ravana’s allure and the grandeur of his dark world. The KGF star deftly used his eyes and body language to convey a range of emotions, adding nuance to Ravana.
Of course, Rocky Bhai’s trademark swag was loved by fans, and Yash successfully transposed that attitude to Ravana as well. While Ravana represented evil, he was much more than just an antagonist. He strongly believed in his own intellect, strength and ability to conquer the world, and this came through in Yash’s portrayal on screen. The relationship with his mother, the struggle to be recognised and take his family out of their miserable existence, made Ravana more relatable for the audience, as it made him more human and vulnerable.
In a video released by the makers of Ramayana, Yash explains about Ravana, “We need to understand that he’s not a straightforward villain. Rama is like the heart. Ravana is like the brain. And there is always a conflict between your mind and your heart.”
Yash made sure that Ravana was not just a one-dimensional villain in Ramayana – he managed to successfully bring out the character’s contradictions, vulnerabilities and ambitions, and show him as someone who was eventually undermined by his own arrogance and ego. In fact, Ravana is a scholar, an accomplished musician, an ardent devotee of Shiva and a formidable warrior. Ravana’s ten heads were also interestingly used in the Ramayana to bring out different voices that caused confusion and created immense inner conflict. Playing Ravana was a big risk for Yash, but he clearly believed that he could build a new image for himself, push his creative boundaries and establish his versatility as an actor beyond his mass-action star persona.
The Masterpiece star elaborated in that BTS video about why he chose to play Ravana, though his friends and family were sceptical. He stated, “None of my friends or family – everybody – was like, ‘Why do you want to play Ravana?’ As a producer, I wanted to make Ramayana because it’s our story, but as an actor, I wanted to play Ravana. The only challenge was that people thought, ‘Okay, you are loved by people, and if you’re doing a character who is so hated, people won’t be able to celebrate you or appreciate you.'”
Yash’s ambitions extend beyond becoming a pan-Indian superstar. His desire to take his films to the global stage, with the ultimate ambition of seeing one of them win the much-coveted international award, has often been spoken about in the Kannada film industry.
While Toxic may not have panned out as expected, the Rs 4000 crore Ramayana jointly produced by Namit Malhotra and him is clearly an opportunity for the coveted Hollywood honours. Namit Malhotra’s company, DNEG, has won eight Academy Awards (Oscars) for Best Visual Effects and given that DNEG has created the VFX for Ramayana, the potential to attract several prestigious international awards is enormous.
For Yash – and Namit Malhotra – Ramayana is not merely another big-budget film but an opportunity to demonstrate that Indian storytelling, backed by world-class technology and filmmaking, can compete on the global stage.
Today, Ramayana could be Yash’s biggest opportunity yet to put Indian cinema on the global map. But beyond that, his portrayal of Ravana brings alive the fascinating complexities of a man who is vulnerable and emotional, yet possesses extraordinary strengths that ultimately become his undoing.
Director Nitesh Tiwari’s re-imagining of the antagonist and Yash’s acting prowess have created a new Ravana that became one of Ramayana’s biggest strengths in this fascinating new version of the epic.