Four years after KGF: Chapter 2 turned him into a pan-Indian phenomenon, Yash is finally back in cinemas. Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups opens worldwide on August 26, a Wednesday release timed to ride an unusually long festive corridor spanning Varamahalakshmi, Onam, Eid and Raksha Bandhan. It has been a long road here the film was originally slated for April 2025, then March 2026, then June 2026, each date pushed back by production delays and, later, regional instability that affected Middle Eastern distribution plans.
Directed by Geetu Mohandas, best known for festival favourites like Moothon, the film marks a tonal departure from Yash's rock-solid mining-town mythology in KGF. Set across the 1940s to the early 1970s, the story follows a gangster's rise through a coastal underworld in Goa, where smuggling routes, colonial decay and shifting loyalties define the terrain. As India gains independence, Goa remains under Portuguese rule, creating a volatile backdrop where organised crime and political uncertainty collide. At the centre is Raya, a man navigating loyalty, betrayal and violence as he builds his power in a world where morality is increasingly difficult to separate from survival. The film's own tagline puts it plainly: power is "seized, not granted."
Yash plays a double role: Raya, the gangster patriarch, and his son Rumi, nicknamed Ticket. Nayanthara plays Ganga, Raya's elder sister, while Kiara Advani appears as Nadia, Huma Qureshi as Elizabeth, Rukmini Vasanth as Mellisa and Tara Sutaria as Rebecca. Tovino Thomas and Akshay Oberoi round out the supporting cast. Shot simultaneously in Kannada and English a rare production choice for Indian cinema , the film will also release dubbed in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.
Toxic carries a CBFC-certified runtime of roughly 194 minutes, or about three hours and fourteen minutes, and has landed an "A" certificate with only minor modifications requested by the board.
Advance bookings have reflected the excitement among fans. As of two days before release, the film had sold over 7.5 lakh tickets nationally, pushing its advance gross past ₹36 crore including blocked seats, with Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat leading demand.
Whether Toxic can justify its numbers will be clear soon enough. For now, it's shaping up as the biggest bet of Yash's career.