Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups is a 2026 Indian psychological thriller gangster film directed by Geetu Mohandas and jointly produced by Venkat K. Narayana and Yash through KVN Productions and Monster Mind Creations respectively. It stars Yash, Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria, and Rukmini Vasanth.
The film was officially announced in December 2023 under the tentative title Yash 19, as it is the 19th film of Yash as a leading actor, with the official title revealed a few days later. The film is reportedly budgeted at ₹500–1000 crore, making it one of the most expensive Indian films ever made. Principal photography took place from August 2024 to October 2025 across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Goa, Thoothukudi and Jaipur simultaneously shot in Kannada and English.
Toxic was released worldwide on 26 August 2026. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, who criticised its screenplay, pacing, themes, substance abuse, sexual content and excessive violence, though the performances (particularly of Yash and Kiara) and action sequences received some praise.
Despite the film becoming the sixth highest-grossing Indian film of 2026 and fourth highest-grossing Kannada film of all-time, the film was a massive box-office bomb, grossing – against an estimated production budget of to .
Plot The film revolves around Raya, a gangster, set in pre-Independence Goa under the rule of the Portuguese. In the 1920s, as a child, his mother killed his father, and his elder sister, Ganga, raised him. In 1947, Raya and Ganga both take revenge on gangster Fernandez Almeida for their father's death and go to work under his brother, Salvador Almeida. Eventually, Raya becomes a notorious, ruthless, and powerful figure in the underworld and enters into a relationship with Salvador's daughter, Rebecca. However, his growing power draws the dislike of Salvador's mistress, Elizabeth, and her brother, Tony. During a visit to a circus, Raya is attacked by assassins disguised as clowns and meets the popular circus performer Nadia. He kills the assassins, then goes hunting for the masterminds behind the attack. With Nadia's help, he manages to discover Tony's role in organising the assassination attempt. Tony takes the fall for Elizabeth, who is forced to kill him as a test of loyalty in front of Raya, Ganga, and Salvador.
Raya falls in love with Nadia, and they begin a romantic relationship, but this strains his relationship with Rebecca. Both Salvador and Ganga tell him to marry Rebecca and leave Nadia, and he reluctantly agrees to do so. During the night of the wedding, Raya learns that Nadia is pregnant with his child and Salvador intends to kill them. In response, Raya kills Salvador, but in the ensuing shootout, he is shot by Rebecca, whom Ganga kills. Raya is taken to safety by his friend Karmadi, while Ganga sacrifices herself to ensure his escape. The vengeful Elizabeth forces Nadia to kill Ganga, ruining her and Raya's relationship. Raya kills Elizabeth, but, distraught over Ganga's death, departs from Goa and leaves Nadia and his son behind, with the former going through a downward spiral. Several years later, after the Portuguese leave Goa in the 1960s, Raya, who has been operating and expanding overseas across Macau, returns and visits Nadia's circus, but still does not want to see her. Distraught, she commits suicide. Raya goes on a drive with his son Ticket, but while drunk, he accidentally causes his car to fall off a cliff and into the ocean below with his son inside. He saves Ticket, but, being in a heavily distraught state, scares him away.
Raya continues to keep going through a downward spiral, even as he expands his criminal empire. One night, he meets a woman named Melissa and eventually marries her. On the day Melissa is giving birth to their son, Raya is attacked by assassins, one of whom appears to be Ticket, who is seeking revenge on his father. Later, a grown-up and vengeful Ticket starts targeting Raya's businesses and gradually dismantles his criminal empire. He also turns one of Raya's allies against him by killing his son. On the night of Christmas Eve, Ticket breaks into Raya's house and causes a commotion, prompting Melissa to take their son, Adam, and leave Raya. Raya tries to stop them, but both he and Adam are captured by Ticket, who attempts to kill them, only to be overpowered by his father, who spares his life. That night, Raya and Ticket have a bitter conversation, where the latter calls the former out on his mistakes and the damage he caused to the people in his life.
Angry and guilt-ridden, Raya tells Ticket to kill him, but he refuses. The next morning, Melissa arrives with the police to find Adam. Briefly teaming up, Raya and Ticket battle the police forces and the former attempts to escape with Adam. Ticket tries to reconcile with his father, who tells him to leave and asks for his name. Furious, Ticket shoots him in the head. However, it is then revealed that Ticket and Raya are the same person, the former being a split personality of the latter, and that the real Ticket died years ago inside the car after Raya failed to save him. Realising the truth, Raya sends Adam away with Melissa. He then sees hallucinations of all the loved ones he has lost and joins a battle between his men and the forces of his former ally, whose son he killed as Ticket. Karmadi and all of his men die in the battle. Still hallucinating, Raya single-handedly battles the enemy forces and shoots down his former ally's plane, killing him and causing an avalanche that takes out all of his remaining men. Raya has a hallucination of the young Ticket and moves to embrace it as the avalanche reaches him, leaving his ultimate fate unknown.
Cast
Production Development In April 2023, Yash was reported to be preparing his next film after the KGF film franchise (2018–present) with Geetu Mohandas. The project was being referred to as Yash 19, meaning Yash's 19th film as a lead actor. Reports said Geetu was developing it as her next directorial project and the two had committed to the collaboration. Some reports at the time claimed filming could begin in June 2023, but that schedule did not materialise. Geethu described her next film as a gangster drama film with a female perspective and explained that, for the first time, she was working with a writing room rather than writing alone. In late September 2023, Hollywood action choreographer J. J. Perry posted a photograph on Instagram with himself and Yash, hinting at a possible collaboration. The project was officially unveiled on 8 December 2023. KVN Productions and Yash's Monster Mind Creations were announced as production partners, with Geethu Mohandas confirmed as director. The title announcement revealed the original release date, 10 April 2025.
In January 2024, cinematographer Rajeev Ravi was announced as part of the film's technical crew. In January 2025, Geetu stated that Yash was also part of the film's writing team. Toxic is reportedly budgeted at , making it one of the most expensive Indian films ever made.
Casting
Yash plays as the main lead. Kiara Advani joined the film in April 2024, as the female lead alongside Yash, thus also marking her Kannada debut. Huma Qureshi joined the cast in June 2024 for a key negative role. Tovino Thomas was rumoured to join the cast as the main antagonist in July 2024. However, later he clarified that he was not part of the film. In August 2024, Akshay Oberoi and Tara Sutaria joined the cast. In January 2025, Oberoi confirmed that Nayanthara joined the cast for a key role. Sudev Nair joined the cast in April 2025 while Rukmini Vasanth joined the cast in August 2025 following the completion of Kantara: Chapter 1. In February 2026, it was confirmed that Sanjeeda Sheikh would have a special appearance in the film.
Various foreign actors like Darrell D'Silva, Kyle Paul, and Beatriz Taufenbach featured in the film.
Filming Principal photography commenced in August 2024 in Bengaluru along with the pooja ceremony. As part of the production process, the film utilised previsualisation to plan stunt sequences and ensure safety. A major portion of the shoot began in September 2024 at a large-scale 20-acre set near Bengaluru, recreating the period from the 1940s to the 1970s. The production involved an extensive team of over 1,000 crew members and 450 actors, including foreign extras. In October 2024, some sequences were filmed in the forest areas of Peenya in Bengaluru. Later, an FIR was filed against the producer for allegedly cutting trees in the forest area without permission. In November 2024, sequences featuring Advani were shot in Mumbai. A dance sequence featuring Yash and Advani was choreographed by Ganesh Acharya in January 2025 in Goa. In February 2025, Yash alongside with Advani, Nayanthara, Qureshi and Sutaria shot several sequences in Bengaluru. In June 2025, the film's remaining shoot was shifted to Mumbai from Bengaluru so as to facilitate Advani's pregnancy. In September 2025, a massive 45 day shoot featuring many action sequences choreographed by J. J. Perry was completed in Mumbai. In October 2025, the final schedule was filmed in Bengaluru.
Additionally shooting also took place in Thoothukudi, where an action sequence was filmed, while a special song sequence was also shot in Jaipur.
Music
The film's soundtrack album was composed by Vishal Mishra, Ravi Basrur, Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah, and Arslan Nizami. Basrur also composed the background score of the film. Thus, it was Basrur's third collaboration with Yash after the KGF film franchise. The music rights were acquired by Zee Music Company.
The first single titled "Tabaahi" was released on 2 March 2026 in audio format. The full video of the song was released on 8 July 2026. The second single titled "Manamohaka" was released on 21 July 2026. The film's album was launched at a special event in Mumbai on 13 August 2026.
Marketing The film's announcement video alongside the title was revealed on 8 December 2023. A short glimpse titled "Birthday Peek" was released on 8 January 2025, coinciding with Yash's 39th birthday. The glimpse of Yash's character Raya was unveiled on 8 January 2026, coinciding with his 40th birthday. It generated instant global traction, amassing over 200 million views and 5.5 million likes within 24 hours across platforms. The official teaser was revealed on 20 February 2026. A promotional teaser titled "Ladies & Ladies" was released on 1 July 2026. The film's official trailer was revealed on 8 August 2026 at a special event in Bengaluru. The event was also attended by Shiva Rajkumar alongside the entire cast and crew. On 19 August 2026, the English version of the trailer was released. A pre-release event was held in Malla Reddy University in Hyderabad on 22 August. On 24 August 2026, a pre-release event took place in Nehru Stadium in Chennai. On 25 August 2026, another pre-release event was held at Forum Mall in Kochi.
Release Theatrical Toxic was released worldwide on 26 August 2026, coinciding with Onam; in the standard, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX and EPIQ formats. Apart from the film's original Kannada and English languages, it was also released in the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages. The film's English version was released in India on 4 September 2026 with a shorter runtime of 176 minutes.
Originally, it was scheduled for release on 10 April 2025 but was eventually postponed due to delayed shooting and production issues. Then, it was announced for release on 19 March 2026; however, it was again postponed due to the ongoing crisis in Middle East Countries, as well as to avoid a clash with the Hindi film Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Later, it was announced for release on 4 June 2026, but was postponed again due to alignments for a better global distribution. The film was reportedly release in 12,000 screens worldwide.
Distribution