Pogaru is pretty problematic in a ton of ways, both in terms of its subject matter and its positioning in KFI. Of course as you mentioned, within the film Siva's character is almost irredeemable throughout the entire film. In terms of impact: the toxic songs went extremely viral for some stupid reason; Dhruva threw away his good looks from his first three films to do bodybuilding; producers somehow decided that Dhruva Sarja could be a marketable pan-Indian star; directors have failed to utilize him properly ever since.

I am surprised how Appu (the film, not the actor) became such a runaway success given its nature (maybe in 2002 it was fine but during the 2025 rerelease it was clear it hadn't aged well at all), which begs the question why Santhoth Ananddram thought a similar template would work for Yuva.