When Geetu Mohandas was announced as the director of Rocking Star Yash’s next, fans were apprehensive about this collaboration. The acclaimed filmmaker’s previous works – Liar’s Dice and Moothon – as well as her comments about not working with a bound script with things constantly changing and evolving on her sets, were the major red flags, as far as the Kannada superstar’s hardcore fans were concerned.

That’s still how Geetu continues to function, it would seem, but that is exactly what’s clicked with Yash. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, the Rocking Star spoke about why he chose to work with her on his next project after the monstrous hit that was KGF: Chapter 2. “When Geetu first came to me, it was a small thread… I don’t think we are even doing that anymore. It has developed into something else,” said Yash, adding that director’s passion and the project that she brought to him is what appealed to Yash, even though he had not seen any of her earlier work at the time.

Yash says that Toxic is unlike anything Geetu has done in the past. “Her films maybe different, but she does understand the pulse of the audience and entertainment. She is coming up with something very massy,” he said, adding that they are looking at telling a great story in a way that appeals to audiences, which, according to Yash, is the definition of a commercial movie. Working with Geetu also aligned perfectly with Yash’s philosophy of not settling for the easy way out and to constantly take risks and see where that decision leads him.

During the interaction, while Yash did not confirm the casting of actresses like Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria and Huma Qureshi, he did say that Toxic has a lot of strong women characters in it. “The drama we are doing needs those characters,” he says.

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