Dhanush is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. along with Hindi Cinema.He acted in two Hindi films Ranjhanaa and Atrange Re.Having starred in 46 films over his career, his accolades include 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 the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. He continued success with films including Maryan (2013), Velaiilla Pattadhari (2014), Anegan (2015), Kodi (2016), Vadachennai (2018), Asuran (2019), Thiruchitrambalam (2022) and Vaathi (2023). Vadachennai emerged as the highest-grossing A-rated Tamil film of all time, while Thiruchitrambalam and Vaathi entered the 100 Crore Club within a month of their release. During the 2010s, he 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 (2012) 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 Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut in addition to a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. 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 on 28 July 1983 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. The couple announced their separation on 17 January 2022.

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

Acting Career

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, which earned him his ninth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil.

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 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. For his performance in the film, Dhanush received his eleventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. 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.

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.

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 oomedy-drama Pa Paandi (2017), which earned him his first Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil.

Accolads

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.