Director Vignesh Shivan had a hilarious self-criticising moment at the Chennai event of Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, where he revealed that he had approached Kiara Advani with a story before she starred in Kabir Singh ; a story that he eventually made himself as Love Insurance Kompany.
Vignesh Shivan's wife, actor and producer Nayanthara, is a part of Toxic's cast, and the director attended the event represented her. Speaking about Yash, Vignesh said the actor had always been an inspiration to him. “In life, there are certain people who become role models for us, icons. We look up to some people, get inspired and want to do a lot of things. Yash sir is one such icon.”
Recalling the first time he got an opportunity to share the stage with Yash, Vignesh said, “My only thought was, ‘Okay, at least I get one day to be next to him.’ I was so lucky. Then I got one more song, and one more song. As it kept happening, I got so much time to be around him and spend time with him. I can never forget that. Thank you so much for being so kind, sir.”
Vignesh also recalled an incident that showed him just how far Yash's popularity had travelled after KGF. “Once, I had gone to some place called Siddhpur in Gujarat to scout for a location. There was an ordinary peanut seller there. On his speaker, he had Yash sir’s photo playing. I asked him, ‘Why do you have this photo playing?’ He said, ‘Rocky Bhai! Rocky Bhai!’”
“That’s the kind of reach he has — to every nook and corner of India. And now, after Toxic, he is going to become a global superstar. He is going to break a lot of records, and Indian cinema is going to cross borders,” he added.
Vignesh then turned to Kiara and delivered the evening's biggest self-deprecating punchline. “Before Kabir Singh, I met Kiara to narrate a story. I made that film now, called Love Insurance Kompany. You’re lucky you didn’t do it,” he joked.
Vignesh also praised Toxic director Geetu Mohandas for her vision and the courage it took to make the film. “To make a film like this, you need a lot of guts. Every frame, every word that you have written — it is so deep and so beautiful,” he said.
Also starring Rukmini Vasanth, Tara Sutaria, and Huma Qureshi, Toxic is gearing up to open in theatres this Wednesday.
