Toxic trailer out: Yash smokes cigar in gun-blazing act; fans wonder if bold lovemaking scene was necessary

KGF star Yash turned 40 today, and on his birthday, the actor treated fans to the much-awaited teaser of his star-studded film Toxic. The two-minute teaser is fierce and arguably ups the Bollywood game like no other film so far.

If you've watched the teaser, it gives off strong Hollywood vibes,  it's gruesome, gross and definitely A-rated. The BGM and character introductions are mind-blowing. Apart from intense violence, the teaser also features a bold and explicit lovemaking scene inside a car. Several visuals show Yash smoking a cigar and brandishing a gun, as the teaser introduces audiences to a dark, violent world.

The teaser opens with a funeral scene in a cemetery. Before an explosion erupts, an intimate moment inside a car sets the tone for the toxic atmosphere.

Yash, as Raya, then makes a striking entry through a haze of fog while smoking a cigarette. A shirtless, tattooed Yash slips into an oversized black coat and declares, "Daddy's home."

Netizens call Toxic teaser cringe

Netizens were largely impressed by the premise and the way the VFX and BGM were presented, but many criticised the lovemaking scene, arguing it was unnecessary. Several users even pointed out that Dhurandhar is also a violent action film, but it worked without including sex scenes.

A Reddit post read, "Toxic teaser out, but was the depiction of the sex scene necessary in the teaser?"

One user wrote, "Even in such an action-packed sequence, they managed to give footage to the female character. So considerate of them to not make it hyper-masculine."

Another commented sarcastically, "Haa... It's such a natural thing to pull up at a funeral, blow it up, have a quickie on the way, and make the car creak so hard that it triggers the bomb. Don't we do that every other weekend?"

A third user said, "But Dhurandhar also had extreme violence and loud, catchy techno music that energised you. Content-wise, it relied on the sentiment of real terror attacks to evoke emotion (not saying it's wrong, but it does help)."

The poster of Yash's look and character was unveiled today. Earlier, the makers had revealed the leading ladies of the film,  Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi, Rukmini Vasanth and Tara Sutaria.

Written by Yash and Geetu Mohandas and directed by Geetu Mohandas, Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups has been simultaneously shot in Kannada and English, with dubbed versions planned in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and several other languages.

The action sequences are mounted on a grand scale and choreographed by Hollywood action director JJ Perry (John Wick), along with National Award-winning action directors Anbariv and Kecha Khamphakdee.

Produced by Venkat K under the banners of KVN Productions and Monster Mind Creations, the film is slated for a worldwide theatrical release on March 19, coinciding with Eid, Ugadi and Gudi Padwa. Yash's Toxic will clash with Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar 2.