Ram Gopal Varma has joined the ongoing conversation around Yash's stardom before KGF, calling the debate over Allu Aravind's old remark “ridiculously laughable”. The filmmaker has now explained why he believes Allu Aravind's comments were being taken out of context.
The discussion began after Allu Aravind's 2023 comment about Yash resurfaced online following the release of Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups. The veteran producer had questioned who Yash was before the KGF films, a remark that had earlier upset the actor's fans.
Reacting to the renewed debate, Ram Gopal Varma took to X on Tuesday and defended Allu Aravind's point. He wrote, “The controversy regarding #AlluAravind ‘s statement regarding #Yash is ridiculously laughable because what he clearly meant when he talked about big films with unknown actors and saying he dint know of Yash before KGF , even a dumbo should understand that it was in context of the below.”
Ram Gopal Varma then compared Yash's journey with the rise of other actors who became much bigger stars after one major film. He said, "The Hindi audience dint know Prabhas before Baahubali , they dint know Rishab before Kantara , I dint know Brando before Godfather..Maybe he was a star before in his films A street car named desire , on the water front etc ..I don't know if they released in india also .. That's because those films made them big stars and not the other way around ..Hollywood always spends big on concept films and not on stars ..Even directors like Nolan use names only for their acting prowess and not to depend on their stardom ..We all know whether it's Oppenheimer or Odyssey , they would work as much irrespective of who's in it. Coming back to the subject of Allu , it's only highly egotistic people who will take his statement personally on such a general well meaning thought ..Actually this kind of reaction also explains why they are making what they are making."
The filmmaker's comments come at a time when Yash is back in the spotlight with Toxic. Directed by Geetu Mohandas, the film released on August 26 across Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English.
While the gangster drama has received mixed to negative reactions from several viewers, it has still crossed the Rs 200 crore mark at the domestic box office.
Toxic features Yash alongside Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, Rukmini Vasanth and Tara Sutaria.
