Dhanush

Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among his accolades are four National Film Awards (two as actor and two as producer), 14 SIIMA Awards, nine Vijay Awards, seven Filmfare Awards South, five Vikatan Awards, five Edison Awards and a Filmfare Award. He has been included in the '' Forbes India'' Celebrity 100 list six times, which is based on the earnings of Indian celebrities.

Dhanush's first film was ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'', a 2002 coming-of-age film directed by his father, Kasthuri Raja. He achieved further success in '' Polladhavan'' (2007) and ''Yaaradi Nee Mohini'' (2008), both of which were critically acclaimed and commercially successful. His role as a rooster fight jockey in '' Aadukalam'' (2010) won him Best Actor at the 58th National Film Awards and Best Tamil Actor Award at the 60th Filmfare Awards South. He continued success with films including ''Maryan'' (2013), ''Velaiilla Pattadhari'' (2014), ''Anegan'' (2015), ''Kodi'' (2016), '' Vadachennai'' (2018), '' Asuran'' (2019), and ''Thiruchitrambalam'' (2022). ''Vadachennai'' emerged as the highest-grossing A-rated Tamil film of all time, while ''Thiruchitrambalam'' entered the 100 Crore Club within a month of its release and emerged as Dhanush's highest grossing film till date. During the 2010s, Dhanush also starred in the action films '' Maari'' (2015), ''Maari 2'' (2018), and ''Velaiilla Pattadhari 2'' (2017).

In 2011, Dhanush's popular song "Why This Kolaveri Di" from the romantic psychological thriller film ''3'' became the first Indian music video to cross 100 million views on YouTube. He made his Bollywood debut with Aanand L. Rai's ''Raanjhanaa'' (2013). His performance as an obsessive one-sided lover in the film won him the Best Male Debut Award and earned a Best Actor nomination at the 59th Filmfare Awards. Dhanush produces films through his production company, Wunderbar Films, and he made his directorial debut with ''Pa Paandi'' (2017). His song "Rowdy Baby" from ''Maari 2'' became one of the most-viewed Indian songs of all time. It is the only South Indian video song to reach 1 billion views on YouTube. Dhanush won his second National Film Award for Best Actor for ''Asuran'' (2019).

Early and personal life

Dhanush was born as Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja to a Tamil film director and producer, Kasthuri Raja, and mother, Vijayalakshmi, in Madras, Tamil Nadu. Initially he wished to go to a school of hotel management and become a chef. However his brother, director Selvaraghavan, pressured him to become an actor.

Dhanush married Aishwarya, Rajinikanth's eldest daughter on 18 November 2004. They have two sons, Yatra and Linga, who were born in 2006 and 2010 respectively.Dhanush's son named Linga – Tamil Movie News
''indiaglitz.com''. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2013. The couple announced their separation on 17 January 2022 and reconciled on 6 October 2022 after 9 months of separation .

He is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and gave his two sons Shaivite names.

Acting career

2002–2010: Career beginnings

Venkatesh Prabhu adopted the screen name "Dhanush" after being inspired by the fictional covert operation from '' Kuruthipunal'' (1995). He debuted in the 2002 film ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'', directed by his father Kasthuri Raja, which became a sleeper hit. He then appeared in his brother Selvaraghavan's first directorial venture ''Kaadhal Kondein'' in 2003. The film portrayed Dhanush as a mentally-disturbed youth, Vinodh, who yearned for the love of his friend, eventually turning possessive of her. Upon release, the film won critical acclaim and also became a major commercial success, eventually becoming Dhanush's first major breakthrough in Tamil cinema. His next film was ''Thiruda Thirudi''.

In 2004, Dhanush appeared in ''Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan'' and '' Sullan''. Later, he also appeared in ''Dreams'', another film panned by critics. The film was directed by his father, like their previous ventures. In 2005, Dhanush appeared in ''Devathaiyai Kanden'' and in the same year, he also worked on Balu Mahendra's ''Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam''. In 2006, Dhanush worked under his brother in their gangster film ''Pudhupettai''. The film, about a young man's journey from street urchin to gangster received critical acclaim, with Dhanush's performance receiving especial praise. Dhanush went on to star in the commercial entertainer ''Thiruvilaiyaadal Aarambam'', romancing Shriya Saran.

Dhanush's first release of 2007, ''Parattai Engira Azhagu Sundaram'' did not go well. The film was a remake of the successful Kannada language film '' Jogi''. However, his second film '' Polladhavan'' was released during Diwali 2007. ''Polladhavan'' was based on the 1948–Italian neorealist film ''Bicycle Thieves'' and Dhanush's performance was appreciated.

The remake of a Telugu film directed by his brother formed the plot line for Dhanush's next movie directed by debutant Mithran Jawahar. The movie was titled ''Yaaradi Nee Mohini''. He later appeared in a cameo appearance, for his father-in-law Rajinikanth's venture ''Kuselan''. His subsequent venture was Suraj's '' Padikathavan'', which was released in January 2009. His performance was praised and well received. His next two films '' Kutty'' and '' Uthama Puthiran'', were both collaborations with director Mithran Jawahar.

2011–2014: Critical success

Dhanush's first release in 2011, which he had shot for over three years, was '' Aadukalam'', marking his second collaboration with Vetrimaran. Dhanush played the role of a local cockfighter and described the venture as his "Dream Project" during production. The film gained highly positive reviews and won six awards at the 58th National Film Awards, with Dhanush receiving the National Film Award for Best Actor,Bollywood beaten back at National Film Awards – Movies News News – IBNLive
. CNN-IBN.in.com. Retrieved 31 May 2011. becoming the youngest actor to win the award. Dhanush appeared in an extended guest appearance in Subramania Siva's ''Seedan''. His next two ventures were the action films, ''Mappillai'', a remake of his father-in-law's same-titled 1989 film and ''Venghai'', by Hari, which received mixed reviews but was a commercial success.

Dhanush's next film, ''Mayakkam Enna'', in which he once again collaborated with his brother, casting him with Richa Gangopadhyay, received largely positive reviews. His only 2012 release was '' 3'', directed by his wife, Aishwarya Rajinikanth with co-star Shruti Haasan. The movie was a moderate success, owing to the popularity of the song ''Why This Kolaveri Di''. The song quickly became viral, the first video from India to gain 100 million YouTube views. In 2013, he appeared in '' Maryan'' opposite Parvathy, which was applauded by critics, but became an above-average grosser at the box office. His next release was ''Naiyaandi'', directed by A. Sarkunam, which did not make any notable impact at the box office. He made his debut in Bollywood with the film ''Raanjhanaa'', directed by Aanand L.Rai opposite Sonam. The film was released on 21 June 2013 with the Tamil dubbed version '' Ambikapathy'' releasing a week later. This film had background score composed by A. R. Rahman and received critical acclaim from critics and audience, and it grossed over 135 crore rupees worldwide.

Dhanush's first film of 2014 was ''Velaiilla Pattadhari'', which was also his 25th film and was directed by Velraj. It received mostly positive reviews and was a success, being among the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2014. The Telugu dubbed version, ''Raghuvaran B. Tech'', was also a success. His next release was ''Shamitabh'', released in year 2015 which was also his second Hindi film directed by R. Balki. It opened to very high positive reviews and was praised for the concept, but failed at the box office. His next film ''Anegan'', was a psychological thriller directed by K. V. Anand, which generated positive reviews and became a box office success.

2015–present: Experimental projects

Dhanush's next release in 2015 was the action comedy '' Maari'', featuring Kajal Aggarwal, Robo Shankar and Vijay Yesudas. Directed by Balaji Mohan and composed by Anirudh Ravichander, it was released worldwide on 17 July 2015 and received mixed reviews. He also appeared in '' Thanga Magan'', directed by Velraj with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Amy Jackson, K. S. Ravikumar and Raadhika. In 2016, Dhanush appeared ''Thodari'', which was an action thriller film set on a train and ''Kodi'', a political action thriller.

He played a cameo in his directorial debut '' Power Paandi'', which released on 14 April 2017. ''Velaiilla Pattadhari 2'', directed by his sister-in-law Soundarya Rajinikanth, was his first film of 2017 as a lead actor. He penned the story and dialogues for movie. as well as producing it. It was one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2017. His films '' Vadachennai'' and ''Maari 2'', a sequel to ''Maari'', were released in 2018. ''Vadachennai'' was praised by critics and emerged as the highest-grossing A-rated Tamil film of all time, while ''Maari 2'' got mixed reviews. Dhanush's first international film, titled ''The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir'', released in 2019 worldwide and was a flop. His main 2019 release, '' Asuran'', was praised by critics for its gritty portrayal of land and caste violence and became a box office success, entering the 100 Crore Club for grossing ₹100 crore within a month of its release. His next release, a romantic thriller titled ''Enai Noki Paayum Thota'' was released on 29 November 2019 after several delays due to financial problems and it received mixed reviews.

Dhanush's first 2020 release, on Pongal, was the martial arts action film ''Pattas'', directed by R. S. Durai Senthilkumar, in which he played a double role. The film received positive reviews. Dhanush joined the ensemble cast of Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas in Russo brothers Netflix produced film ''The Gray Man''.

Dhanush's first 2021 role was his starring role in '' Karnan'', directed by Mari Selvaraj, and featuring Lal, Natarajan Subramaniam, Yogi Babu, Rajisha Vijayan, Gouri Kishan, Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli alongside him. The film released on 9 April, to critical acclaim. His next project was the black comedy gangster film, ''Jagame Thandhiram'', written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj, which released on 18 June 2021. It also featured Joju George (in his Tamil debut), Aishwarya Lekshmi (in her Tamil debut), and James Cosmo. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics. He also starred in Aanand L. Rai's August 2021 film ''Atrangi Re'', co-starring Akshay Kumar and Sara Ali Khan. Dhanush is reported to be playing an important character in the Vijay starrer ''Thalapathy 67''.

In 2022, Dhanush starred in ''Thiruchitrambalam'', directed by Mithran Jawahar, and featuring Nithya Menen, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Rashi Kanna, Bharathiraja, Prakash Raj, Munishkanth, all alongside Dhanush. The film released on 18 August, 2022, in theatres. It went to become the highest-grossing film in his career.

Music

Dhanush is a singer, generally for his own films. He was introduced as a playback singer in ''Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan'', by its composer Yuvan Shankar Raja and collaborated again with him in his brother Selvaraghavan's directorial, ''Pudhupettai''. He sang further numbers in Selvaraghavan's films '' Aayirathil Oruvan'' and ''Mayakkam Enna''; the former featured him alongside his wife Aishwarya Rajinikanth.

"Why This Kolaveri Di" was released on YouTube in 2011 as part of the soundtrack to the film 3, the directorial debut of Aishwarya Dhanush. The song became the most searched video in India. Anirudh Ravichander was the soundtrack composer for the film and Dhanush wrote much of the lyrics. He has also sung "No Problem" in the Kannada movie ''Vajrakaya'' and "Thikka" in the Telugu movie ''Thikka''.

Dhanush has sung for the debutant musician Ganesh Chandrasekaran in the film '' Ezhumin''. The song was received well among the audience as he famously renders it emotionally.

Discography

Lyrics

Other work

Dhanush worked with WWF India to support Earth Hour 2012. In August 2013, Dhanush was signed by Perfetti India Ltd. as their brand ambassador for Center Fresh chewing gum.

He has made his directorial debut with the movie ''Pa Paandi''.

Accolades

Dhanush has won and received several nominations at the National Film Award, Filmfare Awards and Vijay Awards ceremony. He won the National Film Award for Best Actor, twice, in 2011 and 2021, for his films with Vetrimaaran, '' Aadukalam'' and '' Asuran''.

References

External links

*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhanush
Living people
Tamil male actors
Tamil playback singers
Best Actor National Film Award winners
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Singers from Chennai
21st-century Indian male actors
Filmfare Awards South winners
Indian male playback singers
Male actors from Chennai
South Indian International Movie Awards winners
Zee Cine Awards winners
International Indian Film Academy Awards winners
Filmfare Awards winners
Tamil film poets
1983 births