EXCLUSIVE: On his 36th birthday, KGF star Yash looks back at his life and stardom- “It’s just the beginning”

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Indian actor Yash made his film debut in 2008 with the film Moggina Manasu and made his debut as a solo lead actor with the 2008 film Rocky. From there to playing Rocky in K.G.F- Chapter 1, it has been a long journey for the actor. Now, as the actor who has made a massive contribution to Indian cinema turns 36, he got into a conversation with Bollywood Hungama and spoke about his life, achievements, stardom, his fans, and the years of the pandemic.

The New Year’s and birthdays are when people look back at the time gone by and reminisce. For Yash, his popularity transcended the borders of the Kannada film industry and he amassed a massive fan following with the 2018 release K.G.F- Chapter 1. When asked about what goes on in his head, when he looks back, he said, "It's in process, I can say. It's not about what we have achieved, it's about what we want to achieve. Of course, we enjoy what we have done, there's still a lot more to do. That's life, you have to keep looking at what you have to do. We have to enjoy every bit of life, face every challenge and overcome it, celebrate it, look forward to something new. That's all about it. I'm not someone who will think about what I have done. It's just the beginning is what I always feel. There is still a lot more."

Talking of looking back, one cannot forget the years of the pandemic and the toll it took on humans. "All of us have gone through a lot of things in these two years which we never expected we will face or that we will arrive into a situation where we have to stay at home and do nothing. There are also positive sides, which is I got to spend a lot of quality time with my kids, especially the first lockdown, my daughter was one-and-a-half years old. That's when they start expressing or they start trying to communicate. I had a wonderful time in the second lockdown. My son was one-and-a-half years old. So it's a blessing in disguise," the actor shared.

But the actor also had times when he began questioning everything and admits that it was tough and he was not "calm and composed" through these tough times. "There are a lot of times where you feel frustrated because you don't know other ways to look at life. You associate yourself with your profession or things you want to achieve. All of a sudden, if you take that equation out of your life it becomes very difficult, irrespective of what profession you're in. I think everybody would have gone through that. I think life is like that. It's unpredictable and we have to adapt to the situation. It's not easy. There are moments where I felt very, very low and questioned, 'What am I doing?' A lot of them say that an empty mind is the devil's workshop. I asked, 'what am I doing? Is it enough? Or is it right? Where am I heading? What is life?' Too many questions. When you're busy you don't have time to think about all those things, it just goes on. The momentum is the most important thing in life and when you lose that momentum, big questions arise and some deep thoughts also come into your mind," Yash told Bollywood Hungama.

While fans and the audiences who have seen him on screen in larger than life, the pandemic also took a toll on him. "We can take you to the fantasy world, yet we will live in reality. In my head, yes, I always live in a fantasy world. But by the end of the day, all of us are humans," Yash said.

With the pan-India success of the magnum opus K.G.F- Chapter 1, Yash achieved a massive fan following across the country and came to be known as their dear Rocky bhai. Fans have known to go out of their way to shower love on the star. When asked if there is one fan gesture that had him overwhelmed, he said he cannot choose one as every moment is special. "How do you decide what is overwhelming, everything is overwhelming. Sometimes the thought that they may not celebrate their parents’ birthday or their own birthday but they are thinking about our birthday. God's blessing I should say. I always say that they are my family. So I have a large family and whatever they do in their small little ways is big for me. It's about the space they give in their life. That itself is so important. And I don't want to differentiate between that. Some celebrate my birthday by just cooking for their family and having good food. Those kinds of celebration that in itself is big," he said.

For Yash, his birthdays are all about his big family meaning his fans. In 2020, just before India was hit by the pandemic, fans of Yash created the World record for the largest celebrity birthday cake. His fans celebrated the day with a cake weighing 5000 kgs and 40x70 feet wide. "It's all about their celebration and meeting them but unfortunately for the last two years, we're not able to do that. I miss meeting my fans. They are also going to be disappointed because more than my birthday they also travel and celebrate with their family," he shared.

This year, once again, owing to the pandemic, the actor will be having a quiet birthday with his family and cannot wait for the pandemic to settle so that he can interact with his fans.

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