Before Rs 4,000-cr Ramayana, Yash slept on Bengaluru streets, dad earned only Rs 14

Cinema and cricket remain India’s two biggest levellers. Youngsters with stars in their eyes can come from small-town India and write their success story with grit and determination. KGF star Yash, Rocky Bhai to his fans, is one such example. Son of a homemaker and Karnataka bus driver, he is among the biggest stars in Indian cinema today. After putting Kannada cinema on the global map with the KGF franchise, the actor is now making headlines for his upcoming films Toxic and Ramayana. He is also co-producing Ramayana, which is reportedly mounted on a staggering budget of Rs 4,000 crore.

However, long before fame and blockbuster success, Yash was just a teenager who ran away from home with Rs 300 in his pocket. His father earned just Rs 14 a day, and money was hard to come by. In Bengaluru, the actor had to sleep on the streets, and it was on one such night — with fear of being driven away by the police — that he vowed that he would be a superstar one day.

‘Proud to be a bus driver’s son’

Yash’s journey began in a humble household in Karnataka’s Hassan district. His father worked as a bus driver and worked gruelling hours to put food on the table. Determined to make it big in the Kannada film industry, Yash moved to Bengaluru with dreams of becoming an actor. He got his first break with the television serial Silli Lalli, before making his film debut with Jambada Hudugi in 2007. Over the years, he went on to become one of Kannada cinema’s highest-paid stars.

Yash’s father worked as a bus driver in Bengaluru. (Photo: Zee Kannada/YouTube)

Recalling the family’s difficult days on Zee Kannada’s Weekend with Ramesh, Yash’s father once said, “I used to earn Rs 14 a day. I went through a lot of hardships to give Yash a better life. I was a strict father because he was a young boy, and I wanted to make sure he never went down the wrong path. Looking back, I feel it was all worth it.”

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Yash added, “We lived in Mysuru. During my childhood, my father would leave for Bengaluru at 5 am every day, complete his duty and return home late at night. He was the sole breadwinner of our family. I am very proud to be a bus driver’s son.”

Yash with his father, mother, and sister on Zee Kannada show. (Photo: Zee Kannada/YouTube)

Even after Yash became a successful actor, his father chose to continue working as a bus driver until his retirement. “People used to troll us, saying, ‘The son travels in an Audi while the father still drives a bus.’ But it was my father’s decision. He wanted to complete his years of service,” Yash said, adding they didn’t want to forget their beginnings.

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‘Ran away from home with Rs 300 in my pocket’

Yash told The News Minute during a 2019 interview, “I ran away from my home. When I came to Bengaluru, I was scared the minute I reached. Such a big, intimidating city. But I was always a confident guy. I wasn’t scared to struggle. I had just Rs 300 in my pocket when I reached Bengaluru. I knew if I went back, my parents would never allow me to return here. My parents gave me an ultimatum. I was free to try my luck as an actor. But after that, if it didn’t work out, I had to do what they asked me to.”

Yash in Gaja Kesari. (Photo: IMDb)

The actor also fondly remembered his struggling days in Bengaluru when he and his friends barely had enough money to survive. “We would eat at small hotels without having the money to pay immediately. Somehow, the owners never troubled us. And we would confidently tell them, ‘We will pay you once we become stars,'” he recalled with a smile on the talk show.

A close friend who appeared on the show shared another glimpse of those difficult years. “People know Yash as a superstar today, but there was a time when he couldn’t even afford one proper meal. He would fill his stomach with puffed rice and water. Many nights, he slept on the National College Grounds.”

The night Yash vowed to become a star

One setback nearly made him abandon his dream altogether. After moving to Bengaluru, Yash joined a film titled Stop as an assistant director. Ironically, the project was shelved.

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Yash in the film Googly. (Photo: IMDb)

“Suddenly, I was back on the streets. I called one of my relatives and asked if I could keep my luggage at their house. They said they were travelling. That night, I slept at a bus stop. I kept wondering whether I should board the next bus back to Mysuru or stay back and continue chasing my dream. I spent the entire night there. The police would beat people sleeping at bus stops, and that night I saw many harsh realities of life. But it also became the night I decided that I would become a star at any cost. I never told my family about it.”

Years later, that determination paid off. Following the phenomenal success of the KGF films, Yash has emerged as one of Indian cinema’s biggest stars. He will next be seen in Geetu Mohandas’ Toxic, followed by Nitesh Tiwari’s ambitious epic Ramayana, co-starring Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi.