Yash's Toxic crosses Rs 3 billion worldwide, Sumalatha calls him 'fearless', says film is ahead of its time

Yash's much-hyped pan-India film Toxic opened to a massive Rs 100 crore-plus start, but the momentum hasn't held. The numbers have been sliding since Day 2, and the fall has only gotten sharper with every passing day.

On its sixth day in theatres, Toxic added Rs 7.45 crore in India, pushing its domestic gross to Rs 264.80 crore. Net collections in India now stand at Rs 221.55 crore.

The film's overseas run brought in another Rs 2 crore on Day 6, taking the international gross to Rs 39.25 crore. Combine that with the domestic numbers, and Toxic's worldwide gross has crossed the Rs 304 crore mark, landing at Rs 304.05 crore.

Trade tracker Sacnilk pegged the film's overall Day 6 occupancy at a modest 16%. Language-wise, Hindi remains the biggest contributor, bringing in Rs 4.40 crore across roughly 9,500-plus shows. The original Kannada version followed with Rs 2 crore, while the Tamil and Telugu versions trailed far behind at Rs 30 lakh and Rs 68 lakh respectively.

Budget estimates for Toxic have varied wildly, with reports pegging the cost anywhere between Rs 500 crore and a staggering Rs 1,000 crore. Against that scale of investment, a steep single-digit-crore daily run six days in is a red flag, and it's fueling growing anxiety among the makers about whether the film can claw its way to profitability.

The underwhelming response has also reignited an old conversation: is Yash's stardom translating into pan-India box office pull the way it did with a certain earlier franchise, or is Toxic exposing the limits of that comparison?

As criticism mounts, Yash is finding vocal backup from within the Kannada industry. The latest came from veteran actor and former Lok Sabha MP Sumalatha, who took to Instagram with an emotional note after watching the film.

She called Yash's performance in Toxic his best yet, saying it left her genuinely stunned, and described the film as a bold, visually striking achievement that marks a turning point in his career. Sumalatha framed the backlash as something Yash is unlikely to let rattle him, floating the idea that the film may simply be ahead of its time, or that portions of it may have been misread by viewers uneasy with his evolution as an artist. “My dear Yash, Just watched Toxic and wanted to tell you this. I always knew you were fearless, and that you would choose to tread your own path rather than follow anyone else’s. But in this movie, what stood out for me above everything was you. Your performance was outstanding — truly mind-blowing. The entire film is a vibrant visual spectacle and, without doubt, a significant milestone for you and the filmmaker. But I cannot tell you how proud I felt watching you outshine yourself in every frame. You have evolved and grown so much as an actor, and watching that journey fills my heart with immense pride," she wrote.

She went further, tying the criticism to the price of success itself, the kind of scrutiny and envy, she suggested, that inevitably follows anyone who rises as far as Yash has. Her message closed on a note of confidence that he would bounce back stronger, paired with warm encouragement to keep going regardless of the noise.

Sumalatha isn't the only industry voice rallying around the actor. Rishab Shetty, Kichcha Sudeep, and Upendra had already thrown their support behind Yash and Toxic in the days prior, suggesting the Kannada film fraternity is closing ranks even as the box office story turns rocky.

Six days in, Toxic sits at a curious crossroads: a worldwide gross past Rs 300 crore that would be a triumph for a modestly budgeted film, but looks shaky against a reported budget that could run into four figures (in crores). Whether word-of-mouth stabilizes the decline — or whether industry solidarity is papering over a genuine audience disconnect — will likely become clearer over the coming week.