Kannada star Naveen Kumar Gowda, popularly known as Yash, has become a pan-India sensation with the unprecedented success of his latest movie KGF: Chapter 2 at the box office. Though Yash has become quite popular across India with the KGF franchise, the actor has risen from humble beginnings. Many would not know that he started as a supporting actor in Kannada television shows.
Yash made his small screen debut with the series Nand Gokul, which aired on ETV Kannada in 2004. In 2007, he appeared in Jambada Hudugi directed by Priya Hassan. The film was commercially successful and ran for around a hundred days.
In 2008, he worked in the romantic drama Moggina Manasu, for which he received the Filmfare Award South for Best Supporting Actor, which proved to be a breakthrough for the actor.
The turning point in Yash’s career came in 2008 with the movie Rocky. It was his debut in a lead role. Though the film did not do well at the box office Yash drew attention of the industry for his performance. He followed it up with a string of commercially successful romantic flicks and in 2012 he got his first Filmfare Award South nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Film.
In 2013, he did a college romance film Googly. In 2014, he was seen in a comedy-drama Raja Huli, a fantasy action Gajakesari and a romantic comedy Mr and Mrs Ramachari. Yash followed up with two action films Masterpiece and Santhu Straight Forward in the next two years.
In 2016, Yash established himself as a bankable actor in Kannada industry by winning his first Filmfare Award South for the best actor for Mr and Mrs Ramachari.
Despite a steady rise in the Kannada industry Yash was an ordinary actor until the arrival of KGF series. The Prashanth Neel directorial KGF: Chapter 1 became the highest grossing Kannada film in 2018 with a collection over Rs 250 crore at the box office. Yash also got his second Filmfare Award South for Best Actor for this movie. He received even more accolades for his role in the sequel, K.G.F: Chapter 2, which has become India’s third highest-grossing film.
