The success of Yash’s ‘Toxic’ and Emraan Hashmi’s ‘Awarapan 2’ tells two very different stories about stardom, fandom and the enduring power of an audience connection.
Our Bureau
Mumbai / Bengaluru
Indian cinema has always had different definitions of stardom. Some stars build their careers on scale, spectacle and mass adulation, while others establish a more intimate connection with audiences that can survive years of commercial uncertainty. The simultaneous success of Yash-starrer Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups and Emraan Hashmi’s Awarapan 2 offers a fascinating illustration of these two very different routes to becoming a star.
Yash represents the contemporary phenomenon: a Kannada superstar who crossed regional boundaries with KGF and transformed himself into a pan-Indian box-office force. Hashmi represents something almost opposite. His popularity was built during the 2000s around romantic dramas, thrillers, intense characters and unforgettable music, but his career subsequently went through periods when he was no longer considered a conventional theatrical draw.
Yet both have now arrived at the same destination — audiences returning to theatres specifically because of them.
The scale of Yash’s Toxic opening is a reflection of the extraordinary relationship he has built with his followers. Across Karnataka, fans gathered before dawn, wore Toxic T-shirts, carried banners and cutouts, danced to drum beats and celebrated his appearance on screen. In Belagavi, one fan told ANI that he and his friends had travelled 40 km for the first-day, first-show. “We are huge fans of Yash, that’s why we’ve come to catch the first-day, first show. We travelled 40 km just for this; we are die-hard fans of Rocky Bhai,” he said.
That sentence explains something important about modern Indian stardom. For a section of the audience, the film is only part of the experience. The star himself has become the event.
The response was reflected at the box office. Toxic reportedly earned Rs 150 crore globally on its first day, despite mixed reviews. Its Hindi version collected Rs 55.40 crore, making it the second-biggest Hindi opener of 2026 at that point, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
Yash’s journey is significant because it represents the rise of the pan-Indian superstar. He did not have to abandon his Kannada identity to become nationally relevant. Instead, KGF turned that regional identity into part of his national appeal. Toxic is now testing whether that phenomenon can evolve beyond a successful franchise into a sustained personal brand.
Hashmi’s story is almost the mirror image.
When Awarapan released in 2007, it did not become a major box-office success. But the film gradually developed a cult following, helped enormously by its music and Hashmi’s portrayal of Shivam Pandit. Nearly two decades later, Awarapan 2 has converted that accumulated affection into a remarkable theatrical comeback.
The numbers underline the scale of that revival. Awarapan 2 collected Rs 84.31 crore nett during its opening weekend, while its Rs 23.40 crore opening day itself surpassed the entire lifetime business of the 2007 original. It also performed strongly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 centers, bringing back “House Full” boards at single-screen theatres and non-national cinema chains.
That is more than the power of a sequel. It is the power of memory.
Hashmi’s wife Parveen captured the emotional dimension of his comeback when she wrote: “It has taken Emi 23 years to get here today.” She recalled the “incredible highs” as well as the “heartbreak and disappointment”, but emphasized that he “kept showing up, kept working and kept believing that all the hard work would pay off someday.”
There is an important distinction between the two stars. Yash’s current success is built largely on momentum. His audience expects scale, action and a larger-than-life cinematic experience. Hashmi’s comeback is built on recognition and emotional continuity — the return of a character audiences had not forgotten.
Hashmi himself acknowledged that relationship when he told theatre audiences: “This is a film which belongs to the fans more than the makers, which is why we have returned.” He added that the journey had been made “even more thrilling with more action and emotions.”
Both Toxic and Awarapan 2 have managed to create that urgency, albeit through completely different routes.
There is also an important lesson for the industry in the strong performance of Awarapan 2 outside the biggest metropolitan centers. Its success in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and at single screens demonstrates that the theatrical audience has not disappeared; it is becoming more selective about what it considers worth watching in a theatre.
The contrast between Yash and Hashmi also shows that there is no single formula for sustaining stardom. Yash has expanded outward, from a regional star into a national phenomenon. Hashmi has travelled in the opposite direction, from mainstream popularity through a difficult period and back into the center of audience attention through a character they never completely forgot.
Yash has shown how a star can become an event. Hashmi has shown that a star can disappear from the center of the box office and still find his way back.