The trailer for Toxic, the Kannada-language gangster film starring Yash, was released at an event in Bengaluru on Saturday, setting up a worldwide cinema release on 26 August after two postponements.
Directed by Geetu Mohandas and running four minutes and 38 seconds, the trailer shows Yash in a dual role. The film is subtitled A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups.
Who is in it?
Yash appears alongside Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria and Rukmini Vasanth, with Akshay Oberoi and Sudev Nair also in the cast. It is Yash’s nineteenth film as a leading actor, and he co-wrote and co-produced it.
Speaking at the launch, Yash rejected regional framing of the film, saying it was not Kannada, Tamil or Telugu but an Indian film. It releases in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Release | 26 August 2026 |
| Director | Geetu Mohandas |
| Lead | Yash, in a dual role |
| Music | Ravi Basrur and others |
| Cinematography | Rajeev Ravi |
When does Toxic release?
Toxic, subtitled A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, is scheduled for worldwide cinema release on 26 August 2026. It is an Indian period gangster film directed by Geetu Mohandas and starring Yash in a dual role, alongside Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria and Rukmini Vasanth. The trailer was launched at an event in Bengaluru on 8 August 2026. Shot principally in Kannada and English, the film is releasing in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. It was co-written and co-produced by Yash through Monster Mind Creations with Venkat K. Narayana of KVN Productions, and is his nineteenth film as a leading actor. The release date follows two earlier postponements, from March and then June 2026. Music is by Ravi Basrur, who scored the KGF films.
Why has it taken so long?
The film was first set for 19 March, chosen to span Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Chaitra Navratri and Eid al-Fitr. It moved to June, then missed that date too. The March slot would also have placed it against Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar.
Reported budgets have ranged upward of 600 crore rupees, which would place it among the most expensive Indian films made. It was conceived, written and shot simultaneously in Kannada and English.
How has the trailer been received?
The Free Press Journal called the promo strictly average, noting it withholds the storyline while running close to five minutes, though it singled out Kiara Advani’s scenes.
The film’s violence and content have drawn sustained comparison online with Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal, released in 2023 and among the most contested Hindi films of that year. The comparison rests on tone rather than plot: a brooding, morally charged world built around a male lead in a dangerous register.
That framing is complicated by the fact that Toxic is directed and co-written by a woman, and that the trailer gives substantial screen time to its female cast rather than confining them to the margins. Reviewers who found the promo underwhelming still singled out Kiara Advani’s scenes.
Kiara Advani told the launch she was a different actor before and after making the film.
What is at stake for Kannada cinema?
The industry has drawn international attention since the KGF films, the second of which ranks among the highest-grossing Indian releases. Toxic is the largest production to follow, and its performance will shape how much capital flows into Kannada-language features.
Geetu Mohandas is a National Award-winning director known for Liar’s Dice and Moothon, festival films far removed in scale from this one. Yash also produces and appears as Ravana in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, due in November.
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Sources for this report
The Redline News Desk
The Redline News desk files and edits world reporting. Every story carries the sources it was built from, and corrections are published on the story itself.
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