Over the years, Yash has come to believe that reason stands. When he took up KGF, a project that ran on small ideas and big aspirations, he knew it would become a trendsetter. And going by the buzz that the film has been making, it seems he has placed the right bet with its makers raising on a yet-unheard-of budget, of ` 50 crore, breaking the myth that Sandalwood works with a low budget.
Recalling a speech he made at a 2015 award function about his film Mr and Mrs Ramachari, he says, “I had said, ‘Watch out guys, Kannada cinema will scale another level and this is just the beginning’. KGF will now set an impressive example of that statement.”
Back to work, after his personal commitments, Yash is on the sets of KGF and has completed his first schedule, which went on for 12 days. He is heading to Kolar this week, where a huge set is being created, for the next schedule of KGF. City Express catches a quick chat with the actor on the film made under Hombale Films.
“KGF was announced two-and- half-years ago and the project has grown with time,” says Yash. “Big-budget films will help Kannada film industry flourish. There was a time when Sandalwood’s highest budget was ` 10 to 15 crore, which has tripled now. With KGF, there has been no limit placed on the budget, which will become evident once the movie is out.”
But the actor shows a groundedness when he says that big-budget project does not mean big money, and that it also means adding creative concepts that have not been seen before. “We are also making small-budget films that earn big profits because of its creativity,” he says. “When big-budget movies help the market grow, even the small-budget movies benefit from it. In a way, the trend will give us the courage to stay afloat even when other languages are doing well.”
Prashanth Neel, the director of KGF, has been working on this ambitious project for almost three years now. Yash says, “Though Prashanth had a lot of offers, he did not take up any of them and waited for me. He is my good friend and when your director respects you as an actor, you tend to work well together. So, along with the team, I am making sure that I give my best to KGF.”