Kamal Ghorui
Yash’s upcoming film Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups hasn’t hit theatres yet, but if veteran producer G Dhananjayan is to be believed, the film has already clocked staggering numbers.Speaking on his show Cinema Strategist, Dhananjayan didn’t mince words. “They’ve made almost Rs 600 crore just from pre-business,” he said flatly, making it clear that the figure is the result of careful groundwork, not hype.For him, this isn’t luck. It’s design.
‘You’ve got Nayanthara … Tovino… every name placed for a market’
Dhananjayan believes the foundation of Toxic’s pre-release success lies in its casting blueprint.“You’ve got Nayanthara, then Rukmini Vasanth, then Tovino Thomas from Malayalam, then Amit Karval,” he listed, stressing that each name serves a purpose.He broke it down further. “Nayanthara has already come and gained some popularity from the movie Jawan. Everyone knows about Rukmini Vasanth after the Kantara chapter,” he said, pointing out that familiarity across regions translates into business confidence.For context, Nayanthara gained pan-India visibility with Jawan, while Rukmini Vasanth became a talking point post Kantara. Add Tovino Thomas to the mix, and Dhananjayan sees a film engineered for multi-market traction.His argument is simple: by release day, every major territory already has a face it recognises.
‘If you just take one person and call it pan-India, that’s doubtful’
For Dhananjayan, Toxic reflects what true pan-India filmmaking looks like.“Only when a film like that comes out appealing to all of India does it get seen as a pan-India film,” he said.He dismissed tokenism in strong terms. “If you just take one person from India and call it a pan-India film, honestly, that’s pretty doubtful.”In his reading, pan-India success isn’t about dubbing and distribution. It’s about designing a film from scratch for cross-regional appeal — from casting to promotions.Toxic is set to release on March 19 alongside Dhurandhar 2, a sequel to an established franchise. But Dhananjayan doesn’t see that as a risky move.“They call it strategic positioning,” he said. “They planned the right strategy and are releasing this movie with Dhurandhar 2 on March 19.”For him, clashing with a known franchise isn’t defensive — it’s a statement. The team, he suggests, believes Toxic belongs in the same commercial league.
‘Rs 400–450 crore of a Rs 1000 crore film comes from North India’
Dhananjayan also tied Toxic’s pre-business to a larger box office reality check.“All the movies that have crossed Rs 1000 crore at the box office, about 40 to 45 percent of the earnings come from North India,” he explained. “Out of Rs 1000 crore, around Rs 400 to 450 crore come from North India.”For him, that share isn’t accidental. It has to be built into the film’s DNA — through casting, content and physical promotional presence in the Hindi belt. In the case of Toxic, he believes those boxes have already been ticked.While confident about the groundwork, Dhananjayan hinted that the full commercial story is still unfolding.“We’ll have a separate talk about how these films succeeded commercially and how they positioned themselves,” he noted.
