From Naveen Gowda to "Hero" Yash: The Self-Made Man

Actor Yash's dream was to become an actor since childhood. However, he aimed to dream big. Indian people were crazy about South Indian films but they only consisted of Tamil films or Telugu films. Yash wanted to change this scenario. He wanted to bring Kannada cinema to a national platform. He wanted to make people aware that Kannada cinema can also bring all Indians to the movie theatres. Thanks to KGF, it happened. However, his journey from nobody to becoming a pan-India sensational actor was not a fairy-tale story at all!

 

 

When Naveen Gowda, his real name, was born, his father felt bad because his income was just Rs 14 a day. His father wanted to Yash to become a government employee (bus driver) but he had decided he wanted to become an actor since a kid. Several kids dream of being an actor, but he started to realize when he was in 12th standard. His family's conditions had led him to take things seriously as responsibilities had increased for him.

 

 

His acting career started in theatre, Rangbhoomi. He had to audition. He was given a two-page dialogue. He did it in just one take! He joined the Benaka drama troupe which was formed by dramatist B. V. Karanth. He began to nurture his acting skills since then. Yash managed to get a job as a backstage worker for a theatre group, where he was paid a meagre stipend of Rs 50 a day. Though he was a worker, he could not afford three meals a day. He used sleep in National College Ground. He used not share these struggles with anybody. But who thought these stairs of struggles would lead him to become a superstar in the future.

 

 

 

 

There is always a turning point in everybody's life. It also happened in the life of Yash. One night, as a struggling actor, things had turned sour for him! He sat in Majestic, Bengaluru. On one side there was the road for Mysore (his hometown). If he had chosen this path, he would have never become an actor and had to live a life that his father had desired in order to fulfill the needs of his family. And, on the other side, there was a way to become a star. At that night, he decided, "I have one life and I want to do what I want. I want to become a star." Since then, there was looking back.

 

After featuring in a theatre group, his first call as an actor came in the ETV Kannada show Nanda Gokula. It was here on this set that he met his life-long partner Radhika Pandit. He went on to appear in several other tele-serials such as Malebillu "Muktha" and "Preeti Illada Mele". As for acting as a film actor, even though Yash debuted in the year 2007 with the film Jambada Hudugi, he bagged all the limelight in his supporting actor role in the film Moggina Manasu. He actually won the Best Supporting Actor Filmfare Award.

 

 

Later the film Kirataka was good enough and gave him a warm response. Films like Googly, Raja Huli, Mr. and Mrs Ramachari with Radhika Pandit were welcoming of course. His onscreen chemistry with Radhika became a major talk of the town and the two of them clicked immensely as a couple on screen. The couple who fell in love got engaged in Goa in August 2016 and eventually married the same year in December in Bengaluru. As he desired, he became a star with a handful of back-to-back successes! But it was only in the Kannada cinema.

 

But he challenged himself with KGF! Prashanth Neel, the director of KGF, and Yash announced the making of a Rs 70-80 crore film, which shook the Kannada film industry. It was the first Kannada film to be made on such a large scale, almost like 7 to 8 times the usual budget. Once the majority of the film was ready, they decided to turn KGF into a pan-India film. And the film got really got success in pan-India!

 

Now, the KGF 2 has been released getting positive reviews from the audience. The experts say that the movie has won against the Beast of Thalapathy Vijay!