Road to Success

Kannada star Naveen Kumar, known by his stage name as Yash is one of the most bankable and biggest stars of South cinema. With just two movies, KGF: Chapter 1 and 2 and his performance as Rocky Bhai, he embarked a place for himself in the hearts of audiences all over.
It would not be wrong to say that Yash is the star who is the ultimate example that when your movie and work is good, there’s nothing like a language barrier. It can reach miles. We all see Yash as the rising star today. But let us tell you that it wasn’t a cake for him at all. He had to go through fine numbers of ups and downs to be known as he is today. made his debut in Kannada industry with Moggina Manasu in 2008 and later delivered many commercial hits, including Modalasal’, ‘Rajadhani’, ‘Kirataka’, ‘Drama’, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Ramachari’, ‘Masterpiece’ and ‘Santhu Straight Forward’ in Sandalwood. However, his destiny and life turned when director Prashanth Neel offered him Rocky Bhai with a period action film KGF: Chapter 1. He made audiences glue to the screen with his performance and there was nobody in 2018 who didn’t know Rocky Bhai. The popularity and acceptance he found from audiences from all over made him the best actor in Indian cinema, leaving behind the biggest superstars. 

Yash is an inspiration to every person out there who has dreams to make it big. The actor is so grounded despite the stardom he earned today. Today, on January 8, as Yash celebrates his 37th birthday, take a look at his quotes on life, success, failures, struggles, financial crisis,  South cinema dominance and more that definitely deserve attention.

Born and lived to become actor

When asked what made him work towards becoming an actor he said, ‘I got addicted to the applause and the whistles from when I was very young. I loved it! Even my teachers called me ‘Hero’ . I believed I was a hero. I thought I’d be a superstar the minute I got here (in Bengaluru). I lived in my own dream world. Even now I feel I am living in a dream.”

Failure and success

Yash experienced both sides of the phenomenon in his career and knows how to deal with failure and success as well. Opening about his struggle of journey from failure to success, the KGF star said, ‘It’s not like it happened overnight. Success came to me slowly. Gradually people started noticing me. Initially I had a tough time getting producers. Gradually people were convinced of my good work. I have seen failure. I have seen a lot of hardship even as a child. So I don’t take success too seriously. I know it won’t last forever. I know how people treat you when you’re not successful.’

Failure is very simple because it reaches you, success can take you to a different road, you have to be extremely careful when you are successful.” He continues, “Failure is very practical, very real, and people run away from you. People who used to be close to your family, who respected and spent good times [with you]… they run away when you are in a problem.Failure, you learn to be with yourself and learn to handle it, so it always teaches you a lesson, at the same time you should not let failure affect you or success affect you,” he elaborates. “Success is something which gives you a lot of courage and strength and confidence; with that you can do better things”.

“If you are not ready to fail, you can never be successful,” he concludes.

Inferiority complex from a bus driver’s son to a confident actor

Yash opened up about how he got rid of his inferiority complex and evolved as a person from a son of a bus driver to a confident actor. The KGF star said, “That is my biggest achievement. It is not about my box-office numbers or the benefits I get being a star. I think every star is made in his head. The battle you have to fight is within you. People might term you as a small-town boy and say that your English is not good or the way you dress is below par. But I feel all of this can be learnt.

Setting an inspiration to dream big always, Yash added, “If you are confident, then everything will fall into place and by confidence, I don’t just mean confidence. They say knowledge eradicates fear. Explore and learn the craft. If someone is talking about cinema, then learn cinema. Then you understand cinema in such a way that you need not be scared. You will be scared when you don’t know. When one prepares for an examination, one is not scared. I think it is all about how much you are willing to put in for what you want. You should not listen to the world, but rather believe in yourself. If someone tells you something cannot be done, you can still do it. And if you have that uniqueness, there is no need to be scared of anyone.”

“Youngsters tend to think a lot about whether they come from economically weaker sections, or whether someone is doing well because of their connections or cars. Trust me when I say this—nothing can change them if they do not believe in effort.”

300 rupees to whopping net worth

Yash wasn’t scared to struggle. He ran away from home to become a superstar with Rs 300 in his pocket. Yash revealed that he ran away from home with just Rs 300 and reached Bengaluru. “I ran off from my home. When I came to Bengaluru, I was scared the minute I reached. Such a big, intimidating city. But I was always a confident guy. I wasn’t scared to struggle. I had just 300 rupees in my pocket when I reached Bengaluru. I knew if I went back, my parents would never allow me to return here. My parents gave me an ultimatum. I was free to try my luck as an actor but after that, if it didn’t work out, I had to do what they asked me to.”

South dominance over Bollywood

It is well known that South has reached ahead in the race with blockbuster hits like Baahubali, KGF: Chapter 1, KGF: Chapter 2, RRR, Karthikeya 2, Vikrant Rona and left behind Bollywood. However, there was no time when people didn’t even recognise South cinema and Yash said Baahubali changed the scenario. Sharing about how North people used to make fun of South movies, the star said, “10 years ago, dubbed films became very popular here (North India). But, initially they all started watching with different opinions. People used to make fun of South films. They were like ‘yeh kya action hai, udd raha hai sab’ (what is this action, everything is flying). That’s how it started and eventually they got hooked on to that and they started understanding that art form. The problem with that was our films were sold for a bare minimum price, people used to do bad quality dubbing and it used to be presented in a bad way with funny names.”

 

Story about faith & dreams

After the blockbuster response from audiences on KGF: Chapter 2, Yash took a moment to thank his fans with a video message but it was his Rocky Bhai style like a story that caught everyone’s attention.He also shared an interesting story about the faith and dreams of a young boy. There was a small village which was facing a drought situation for quite a long time. So the villagers decided to have a prayer meeting and people turned out in large numbers. But there was one boy, who turned up with an umbrella in his hand. People called it foolishness and some even called it overconfidence. You know what that was? Faith. I’m like that little boy who had the faith of witnessing this day.”

 

Yash letter to fans

Ahead of his birthday, Yash penned a letter to his fans for their unconditional love and support. He called his fans ‘my strength’ and revealed that he is not a birthday person but his ‘fans’ enthusiasm has made the day special. While fans have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of his next movie, the actor urged his fans to be patient as he needs more time.

Also Read: KGF Chapter 3: BIG update on Yash starrer by Hombale Films; Read Inside