Naveen Kumar Gowda (born 8 January 1986), better known by his stage name Yash, is an Indian actor who works in Kannada films. He is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards South.
Yash began his career with appearances in several television series in the 2000s. He made his film debut in 2007 with Jambada Hudugi. The 2008 romantic drama Moggina Manasu, for which he received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, proved to be a breakthrough for Yash. His first film in a leading role, Rocky (2008), was poorly received critically and a box office flop. He followed it up with a series of romance films that were commercial successes, and received his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor nomination for Drama in 2012.
Yash went on to establish himself as a leading actor of Kannada cinema with the college romance Googly (2013), comedy-drama Raja Huli (2013), fantasy action Gajakesari (2014), romantic comedy Mr. and Mrs. Ramachari (2014), action film Masterpiece (2015) and action romance Santhu Straight Forward (2016). Mr. and Mrs. Ramachari ranks among the highest-grossing Kannada releases and gave Yash his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. The pan-India success of Prashanth Neel‘s 2018 period action film K.G.F: Chapter 1, which became the highest-grossing Kannada film, helped Yash attain nationwide recognition in India and win his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor. He won further praise for his performance in the sequel, K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022), which ranks as the third highest-grossing Indian film.
Yash promotes various social and philanthropic causes through the YashoMarga Foundation. He is married to the actress Radhika Pandit.