Kiara was particularly criticised over her steamy scenes with Yash following the release of song Tabaahi with some online users questioning her choice of doing bold scenes even after marriage.

Married to Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra, Kiara plays one of the lead actors in an ensemble cast of Geetu Mohandas directorial.

At the trailer launch event last Saturday, Yash delivered a heartfelt speech thanking his family and co-stars before defending Kiara in the backdrop of the online ire.

"... And what you have to go through as an actor, unfortunately, don't care. You should do whatever you believe in and people will celebrate and appreciate it," said Yash.

"It's just that we are a little ahead of time. People will know it. Thank you so much for your support," he added.

A major point of the backlash was that some trolls targeted Kiara more heavily than Yash, despite both actors appearing in the intimate sequences.

Actor Benedict Garrett called out this perceived “double standard”, arguing that Yash was being applauded while Kiara was being criticised for the same material. 

There was also a separate controversy in May over reports that Kiara had asked Mohandas to tone down or remove intimate scenes with Yash after seeing the footage.

Kiara herself dismissed those reports as “absolute nonsense.”

Apart from Yash and Kiara, the film features Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi and Tara Sutaria in key roles.

Shot simultaneously in English and Kannada, Toxic will also release in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam

The film is slated to release on August 26.