"I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," these words by Eleanor Roosevelt, former US First Lady seem quite apposite for superstar Yash.
The actor who started his journey from Kannada entertainment industry is now no longer confined to one region but his fan following has now crossed the borders of one state and made him popular across the country.
Naveen Kumar Gowda best known as Yash was in the capital to promote 'K.G.F: Chapter 2' which is a sequel to 2018 Kannada blockbuster 'K.G.F: Chapter 1'.
Quite confident and wearing a smile of hope he says: "I hope people would love the sequel too." And he asserts that the response that was received by 'K.G.F: Chapter 1' will be the same for its sequel. Well, it seems his hope is coming true while looking at the response to the trailer.
Prashanth Neel's directorial film, also stars Sanjay Dutt, Srinidhi Shetty, Raveena Tandon and Prakash Raj. There is a lot of expectation from the sequel by the entire team for which shooting started post Chapter 1.
The movie became a turning point for Yash and it established him as an actor across the country. Now, he has a huge fan following so how much 'K.G.F' is special to him or for that matter even his debut project teleserial 'Nanda Gokula' close to his heart.
"For me, everything is special. Of course, I remember whatever has happened in my life, but I just keep looking forward to something. You should enjoy the moment and you should keep looking forward. I'm somebody who's not attached to anything. Be it 'Nanda Gokula' or 'K.G.F' whatever it is that I'm doing, I'll give my hundred per cent and that will be my word. Later they are in my library, you have to move on."
The actor feels his character Rocky has evolved with time. "First chapter was just the teaser and there is a lot more to see in the second chapter," he says, adding: "In chapter 1, I was in that place where I couldn't talk much and most of the time, I expressed myself with eyes. There were very minimal dialogues but in this chapter 1 have taken control so now there are so many other challenges and how I ended the character. The kind of madness you saw in chapter one was just glimpses of what the audience will see in chapter 2. There is a lot more madness in Chapter 2."
At the same place, Yash shares that Rocky as a character is very close to him. "Rocky is very close to my character in terms of the belief system. Of course, he is distinct in terms of his profession and all but psychologically if you see a very focused and very intelligent guy who wants to achieve something he works on all of that. Anybody can relate to you so it was not very difficult for me to play on-screen all this attitude, these kinds of things. I really love to do these kinds of roles."
Yash coming from a humble background and small town in fact connects with the character on all these terms.
"Rocky's growth is quite similar to my growth in terms of starting from a small town and then I came to Bangalore and how I started and grew in my career with everyone's support. Similarly Rocky also faced a number of difficulties in life yet never gave up and achieved what he wanted. So, yes in many ways I relate to him."
Does he recall any BTS moment and he says: "Well I really wonder why people think and talk about moments and all. For me it is just like we had fun, we did and that scene came out well, that's my ultimate agenda. Most important question always in front of me is 'did I deliver my best when I finished?'. I remember nothing else."
Yet, Yash has all the praises for his co-actor Sanjay Dutt and the way he played his character Adheera. While he also emphasises that casting him or any actor from Bollywood for instance has nothing to do with the market or with any motive to make it a pan India film.
"He is a fantastic actor. I feel we as a 'K.G.F' team wanted to celebrate him. We just thought that he is a perfect choice for Adheera's character and has nothing to do with the market or anything. We wanted him to play that role because he will fit into it. Like the way heroes should be presented in a way and these kinds of negative villains also should be very powerful. So, our director presented him in a way that I feel he should do more of the Adheera kind of roles rather than simple ones."
Talking about the sequel, it's success and the choice of story for 'K.G.F', he says: "There are a lot of emotions and drama in the film. That's a good imaginary story. Since my childhood, we are used to listening to stories where it starts from that there used to be a king and all of those things. It is all fiction. So, we connect with such stories and I believe the same happened with 'K.G.F' and hope the same for chapter 2."
While looking at the success of movies such as 'RRR' or 'KGF', how he looks at the industry in the South growing and making a pan India appeal.
"Now we have to understand that people have moved on from any kind of distinctions between Bollywood or South. It's a digital era and we say something for instance in Karnataka, people ask us questions on the same in the other parts. Everything now travels fast and now South industry is expanding and people are working to make it grow.
Now, we are catering to every part of the country and that is really a big thing. For instance with 'KGF' we learned to communicate in Hindi so that we can connect with people well in North India and this is itself a great thing. I believe we are part of one cinema - Indian cinema and this is the most relevant aspect of today."