Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983),[2] known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema.[3] Having starred in 50 films over his career, his accolades include four National Film Awards (two as actor and two as producer), fourteen SIIMA Awards, eight Filmfare Awards South and a Filmfare Award.[4] One of the highest paid actors in Indian cinema, he has been included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list six times.[5]
Dhanush was born as Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja[14] on 28 July 1983 to Tamil film director and producer, Kasthuri Raja, and his wife, Vijayalakshmi, in Madras, Tamil Nadu.[15] Initially he wished to study Hotel Management and become a chef.[16] However his elder brother, film director Selvaraghavan, pressured him to become an actor.[17][18] Dhanush also has two sisters named Vimalageetha and Karthiga Karthik.[19]
Acting career
2002–2010: Career beginnings
Venkatesh Prabhu adopted the screen name "Dhanush" after being inspired by the fictional covert operation from Kuruthipunal (1995).[20] He debuted in the 2002 teen drama 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, the romantic psychological thriller 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 opened to critical acclaim and proved to be a major commercial success, eventually becoming Dhanush's breakthrough in Tamil cinema.[21] The film also fetched him his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. His next film was the romantic comedy Thiruda Thirudi (2003), a critical and commercial success.[22]
In 2006, he reunited with his brother for the cult gangster film, Pudhupettai.[26] It portrayed a young man's journey from a street urchin to gangster, receiving mixed reviews, initially, though Dhanush's performance received major praise. However, over the years, the film has undergone a critical re-evaluation and is now considered to be one of the greatest Tamil films ever made, whilst also garnering a huge cult following.[citation needed] Dhanush subsequently received his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil, for his performance in the film. That same year, he also reunited with Boopathy Pandian after Devathaiyai Kanden, for the romantic comedy, Thiruvilaiyaadal Aarambam, opposite Shriya Saran and Prakash Raj.[citation needed][27] It was a major commercial success, a first for Dhanush, after several average and below-average grossers.
The following year, the remake of a Telugu film directed by his brother formed the plot line for Dhanush's next film directed by debutant Mithran Jawahar, later titled Yaaradi Nee Mohini.[30] The romantic comedy proved to be a major critical and commercial success, thus earning Dhanush his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. 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.[citation needed] His performance was praised and well received.[31] His next two films Kutty and Uthama Puthiran, were both collaborations with director Mithran Jawahar.[32]
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.[33] The film gained widespread critical acclaim and won six awards at the 58th National Film Awards, with Dhanush receiving the National Film Award for Best Actor,[34] becoming the youngest actor to win the award.[citation needed] He also won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance in the film. 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'ssame-titled 1989 film and Venghai, by Hari, which received mixed reviews but was a commercial success.[32]
Dhanush's next film, Mayakkam Enna, in which he once again collaborated with his brother, casting him with Richa Gangopadhyay, received positive reviews. His only release in 2012 was the romantic psychological thriller 3, directed by his then wife, Aishwarya Rajinikanth with co-star Shruti Haasan. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success, majorly due 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.[35][36] The film won him his second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil and his second Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Tamil.
In 2013, he appeared in Maryan opposite Parvathy, which emerged as an above-average grosser at the box office, but was critically acclaimed, thus earning Dhanush his sixth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil, in addition to fetching him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Critics) – Tamil.[citation needed] His next release was Naiyaandi, directed by A. Sarkunam, which did not make any notable impact at the box office.[37] He made his debut in Bollywood with the film Raanjhanaa, directed by Aanand L.Rai opposite Sonam Kapoor. 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 mixed reviews from critics,[38] and it grossed over 94 crore rupees worldwide.[39]
Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor at the launch of Raanjhanaa
Dhanush's first film of 2014 was the comedy-drama Velaiilla Pattadhari, which was also his 25th film and was directed by Velraj. It received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, ranking among the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2014.[citation needed] Dhanush won his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil for his performance in the film. The Telugu dubbed version, Raghuvaran B. Tech, was also a success.[40]
His next release was Shamitabh (2015), which was also his second Hindi film directed by R. Balki. It opened to highly positive reviews and was praised for the concept, but failed at the box office.[41] His next film Anegan, a psychological thriller directed by K. V. Anand, which received positive reviews and became a box office success. The film earned Dhanush his eighth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.[42]
He played a cameo in his directorial debut Power Paandi, which released on 14 April 2017.[44]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 the movie as well as producing it.[citation needed][45] It was one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2017.[citation needed] His films Vadachennai and Maari 2, a sequel to Maari, were released in 2018. Vadachennai was highly praised by critics and emerged as the highest-grossing A-rated Tamil film of all time. For his performance in the film, Dhanush also jointly won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil (tying with Vijay Sethupathi for '96), his fourth win in the category.[46]Maari 2 received mixed reviews upon release and was a moderate success at the box office. Dhanush's first international film, titled The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, released in 2019 worldwide and was a commercial failure.[47] His next 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.[48][49]Asuran won Dhanush his second National Film Award for Best Actor. 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 upon release.[50][51]
Dhanush married Aishwarya, actor Rajinikanth's elder daughter on 18 November 2004.[citation needed] They have two sons, Yatra and Linga, who were born in 2006 and 2010 respectively.[57][citation needed] The couple announced their separation on 17 January 2022.[58][59] They officially divorced on November 27, 2024.[60]
Dhanush is a singer, generally for his own films. As a lyricist, he is often credited as "Poet-uh Dhanush" (Tanglish slang). He was introduced as a playback singer in Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan,[62] 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, which featured him alongside his then wife Aishwarya Rajinikanth.[63]
Dhanush has been associated with a number of causes. He worked with WWF India to support Earth Hour in 2012.[73] Dhanush donated Rs.5 lakh for the 2015 South India floods rain-affected people.[74] In 2017, he donated Rs. 50,000 to the families of 125 farmers that committed suicide.[75] In August 2013, Dhanush was signed by Perfetti India Ltd. as their brand ambassador for Center Fresh chewing gum.[76]
Wunderbar Films
In 2010, Dhanush and his wife Aishwarya founded the production and distribution company Wunderbar Films.[77] They have produced several films under the company and Dhanush himself acted in many of the productions films such as 3 (their first work), Velaiilla Pattadhari, Shamitabh, Maari, Thanga Magan, Velaiilla Pattadhari 2, Vada Chennai and Maari 2.[78] For Kaaka Muttai and Visaranai, he won the National Film Award, as a producer.[79]
On 16 November 2024, Nayanthara penned a letter and published an Instagram post addressing Dhanush, where Nayanthara accused Dhanush of intentionally holding onto personal grudges and vengeance over the romantic relationship that unfolded between her and Vignesh Shivan during the shooting of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, a film produced by Dhanush.[81][82]
Nayanthara insisted that Dhanush had sent her a legal notice asking for a compensation of 10 crores for a 3-second video that was used in the Netflix documentary film Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale which were deemed as the behind-the-scenes recordings from the movie sets of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.[83] Nayanthara in her letter revealed that she apparently waited for nearly two years to claim the copyrighted material under the policy of a no objection certificate from her producer Dhanush in order to freely use it for her documentary.[84] She revealed that the filmmakers had apparently re-edited and trimmed the documentary while removing the 3-second video sequence which had been shot from the shooting spots of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan as Dhanush did not grant permission for the usage of songs or visual cuts which featured in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.[85]
^Rangarajan, Malathi (11 July 2003). "Review: Kadhal Kondain". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Rangarajan, Malathi (12 September 2003). "Review: Thiruda Thirudi". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 October 2003. Retrieved 11 November 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
