Why the Middle East is an important market for Yash-starrer ‘Toxic’

Yash-starrer “Toxic,” which was supposed to release on March 19 during the Eid weekend, has been postponed due to the Middle East conflict. The film will now arrive on June 4 at the ticket windows.

While the cinegoers must be wondering why the makers of the epic gangster period drama are giving so much importance to the Middle East market, it has to be taken into consideration that the lead actor enjoys a humongous fanbase there, with his last movie, “KGF 2” performing phenomenally well in the Gulf Nations.

Related Stories

Ravi Basrur on Yash’s ‘Toxic’: ‘Everyone Has To Think Like A King For A Film Like This’ (EXCLUSIVE)

No Clash Means More Cash For Both ‘Dhurandar 2’ and ‘Toxic’, Say Trade Experts

Veteran industry tracker, Sreedhar Pillai, praises the makers for shifting the release date amid the tensions in the Middle East, as he tells Variety India, “This is the right step. They had no other option other than this. Once, their Gulf distributor suggested that they postpone the film due to the ongoing war, as many people would not visit movie halls. Even if the war ends, it will take a month or two for things to stabilize and in this climate, going to the movie hall is not a priority for people in the country. Yash's last film, ‘KGF 2,’ did extraordinary business in the Gulf and a large number of Kannadigas live there, so he did not want to take that risk. It will not impact ‘Dhurandhar 2’ as the previous film did not release in the Gulf. As for other South Indian movies, it will affect those films like Mohanlal’s ‘Drishyam 3,’ slotted for April. There are 10 million Indians in the Gulf. That market is huge. There is bound to be a practical decision.”

Jhanvi Narang, the producer and distributor from Hyderabad, shares that the postponement of “Toxic” will create a domino effect. “I think it was largely about losing the Gulf audience, as Yash has a lot of fans there. When a big film is postponed, there will be a domino effect. From what I gather, ‘Toxic’ had even started pre-bookings abroad, so in such a scenario, everybody starts moving their schedules around; some producers might start having second doubts about releasing their films now. I don't think this will happen with too many South films. There is an ‘Ustaad Bhagat Singh’ coming on March 26, which will continue as is. There is also a limit to how much you can postpone films. Not always the easiest to do. Logistics is a big nightmare. In ‘Toxic’’s case, the film is too large, so if they can afford to move the logistics around, why not? However, there will definitely be an impact on exhibitors because they will lose expected higher revenues on tickets + F&B. Especially for premium format screens cause ‘Toxic’ was going to release in Dolby Cinema format also.”

Directed by Geetu Mohandas and written by Mohandas and Yash, “Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups” features an ensemble cast including Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, Rukmini Vasanth, and Tara Sutaria.

It has been shot simultaneously in Kannada and English, with dubbed versions scheduled to release in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam as part of its global strategy.