A question about Yash’s career before KGF has resurfaced, and Ram Gopal Varma has now entered the debate, backing producer Allu Aravind and arguing that his controversial remark was never meant as a personal slight.
Aravind’s “Who was Yash before KGF?” comment, originally made in 2023 while discussing the economics of big-budget films and star-driven cinema, recently returned to public attention after being brought up on Aap Ki Adalat. It drew a strong response from Yash’s mother, Pushpa Arun Kumar, who defended the actor’s years of work in Kannada cinema before KGF.
RGV, however, sees the controversy differently. Calling the reaction “ridiculously laughable”, he argued that Aravind was making a broader point: stars can be created by films, and a successful film can dramatically expand an actor’s reach.
To make his case, RGV cited Prabhas, whose national popularity grew substantially after Baahubali, and Rishab Shetty, whose visibility outside Karnataka increased with Kantara. He also brought in Marlon Brando, saying that many viewers discovered the legendary actor through The Godfather despite his celebrated work much earlier.
For RGV, the distinction is important. A film can introduce an actor to a much wider audience without erasing what came before it.
That applies directly to Yash. Before KGF, he had already established himself as a leading Kannada actor through films including Moggina Manasu, Kirataka, Drama, Googly, Mr and Mrs Ramachari, Masterpiece and Santhu Straight Forward. But KGF changed the scale of his audience, taking him from a major Kannada star to a pan-India name.
RGV also extended his argument to Hollywood, citing Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and The Odyssey to suggest that, in some cases, the film itself becomes the attraction rather than the personnel behind it.
His sharpest comments, though, were reserved for those who interpreted Aravind’s words as an insult.
According to RGV, only “highly egotistic people” would take the remark personally because the producer was speaking about the relationship between films and stardom, not questioning Yash’s ability or achievements.
The debate, then, is less about whether Yash was a star before KGF and more about what KGF changed.
For Kannada audiences, Yash’s rise was years in the making. For audiences across India, KGF was the film that made him a familiar name.
Both realities can exist together. And perhaps that is the distinction that got lost in the controversy.
