dhanush biography

Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born on 28 July 1983), better known by his stage name Dhanush , is an Indian film actor, occasional playback singer and lyricist, working in the Tamil film industry. His filmography includes critically acclaimed films like Kadhal Kondein, Pudhupettai and Aadukalam, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor and commercially successful films like Thiruda Thirudi, Thiruvilayadal Arambam,Polladhavan, Yaaradi Nee Mohini and Padikathavan. He is the son of Kasthuri Raja and the brother of Selvaraghavan, both directors in Tamil cinema.

Acting career

Early career: 2001–04

Following his upbringing as the son of a noted director, Dhanush debuted under the direction ofKasthuri Raja in the Thulluvadho Ilamai with fellow debutant, Sherin. Upon release, the film fetch up big reviews and was a blockbuster, following the story of his character, Mahesh, and how his friends help him elope with his girlfriend, Kezia.

But Dhanush's breakthrough film was in his brother Selvaraghavan's debut directorial venture, Kadhal Kondein. The film portrayed Dhanush as a mentally-disturbed youth, Vinodh, who yearned for the love of his friend, played by Sonia Agarwal, eventually turning possessive over her.Upon release, the film won critical acclaim and became a commercial success, catapulting Dhanush into the main foray of actors in Tamil films. Furthermore his next film, released later in 2003, Thiruda Thirudi became a blockbuster. Appearing in his first hero-centric film, Dhanush earned Good reviews for his portrayal opposite debutant Chaya Singh. Furthermore, his performance in the song, Manmadha Rasa, was appreciated, subsequently earning the song cult status.

Setback: 2004–05

Despite achieving three profitable ventures in his first three films, Dhanush's following films all gained mixed reviews and were commercial failures. The first failure was his first action film, Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan opposite Aparna Pillai, was lamented by critics as a "poor film". This was followed by Ramana's Sullan, which received negative reviews. However the film, which had Sindhu Tolani as the lead heroine, was dubbed into Telugu as Maurya. The third and most-criticized failure was Dreams alongside two new heroines. The film directed by his father, like their previous venture was released with reviews claiming it was another adult film. This hampered the film's progress, and the film remains Dhanush's biggest failure till date.

In 2005, Dhanush had two average grossers in Devathaiyai Kanden and the much-hyped Balu Mahendra's Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam. The former was a commercial venture, directed by debutant Boopathy Pandian, which despite receiving average reviews on Dhanush's performance, was dubbed into Telugu, while the latter, an off-beat venture, which featured Dhanush opposite Priyamani, received rave reviews but failed to succeed at the box-office.

Breakthrough: 2006–present

Dhanush's biggest film, in terms of budget, till date is the 2006-released Pudhupettai. The film, re-united him with his brother after their successful previous venture, pitted him against two prominent heroines Sneha and Sonia Agarwal. The movie is about the rites of passages in the life and times of an everyday-man who ends up as a dreaded gangster, 'Kokki' Kumar, the role portrayed by Dhanush. A critic praised Dhanush's realistic portrayal, claiming that "as the innocent boy who transmogrifies into a bloody criminal, Dhanush is utterly believable. The subtle changes in his body language and his ability to give every expression a deeper meaning make the character more interesting. This is certainly one of his better performances." The film which became universally critically praised, failed to relate to Tamil Nadu audiences and ended up being an above average grosser at the box-office, despite the positive reviews. The film fared marginally better, in the Telugu dubbed version, titled Dhoolpet. Dhanush achieved his first hit in three years with the commercial entertainer Thiruvilayadal Arambam, alongside Shriya Saran and Prakash Raj. The comedy film showed the relationship between a poor man who loved the sister of a businessman. The film was well-received by critics and audiences alike.

Dhanush's first release of 2007, Parattai Engira Azhagu Sundaram, bombed at the box-office, gaining negative reviews in the process. The film, which was a remake of the successful Kannada language film, Jogi, starred him opposite Meera Jasmine However, his second filmPolladhavan released during Diwali 2007, became a blockbuster at the box office, in which his performance was raved. Polladhavan, based on 1948–Italian neorealist The Bicycle Thieves, featured Dhanush opposite Divya Spandana, and the film's "fresh screenplay" by director Vetrimaran helped the film become a super hit.

The remake of a successful Telugu film directed by his brother, was the plotline for Dhanush's first 2008 release. Directed by debutant M. Jawahar, Yaaradi Nee Mohini with Nayantara became a big blockbuster at the box-office. He later appeared in a cameo appearance, for his father-in-law Rajnikanth's venture, Kuselan, being portrayed as himself in a song sequence. His subsequent venture was Suraj'sPadikathavan opposite Tamannaah Bhatia which had a January 2009 release. His performance was praised, with Sify.com citing that "Dhanush is in top form in his dance" and "has improved a lot in action", with claims that the climax fight featuring him was "outstanding" and the film had become a super hit, giving Dhanush a "hat-trick of successes". His following 2010 films Kutty and Uthama Puthiran, both collaborations with director Mithran Jawahar, received mixed reviews and but were decent hits.

His first 2011 release was Aadukalam, marking his second collaboration with Vetrimaran, which Dhanush had shot for over a period of three years. Dhanush played the role of a local cockfighter, KP Karuppu and described the venture as his "dream project" during production. The film gained very positive reviews and won six prizes at the 58th National Film Awards, with Dhanush receiving accolades for his performance including the National Film Award for Best Actor, becoming the youngest actor to win the award. Dhanush appeared in an extended guest appearance in Subramania Siva's Seedan, portraying the role of a god. His next two ventures were action-masala films, Mappillai, a remake of his father-in-law's same-titled 1989 comedy flick and Venghai by Hari, which both opened to mixed reviews.

His forthcoming venture includes another collaboration with his brother in Mayakkam Enna and he will also be seen in 3 directed by his wife,Aishwarya Rajinikanth with Shruti Haasan paired opposite him. The film particularly gained high popularity prior to the release, after the single track "Why This Kolaveri Di", composed, penned and sung by Dhanush went viral.

Other work

Dhanush occasionally works as a playback singer and lyricist as well, generally in his own films. He was introduced as a playback singer inPudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan by its composer Yuvan Shankar Raja and collaborated again with him in his brother Selvaraghavan's directorial, Pudhupettai. He sung further numbers in Selvaraghavan's films Aayirathil Oruvan and Mayakkam Enna; the former featured him alongside his wife Aishwarya Rajinikanth. His biggest success become the song "Why this Kolaveri Di" from his upcoming film 3, directed by his wife. The song became viral on internet and gained overwhelming response. Selvaraghavan disclosed on Twitter that the tunes of the songs "Kadhal En Kadhal" and "Why this Kolaveri di" were composed entirely by Dhanush himself.

Personal life

Family

Dhanush was born to film director Kasthuri Raja as Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja . He finished higher education at St. John's Matriculation Higher Secondary School Alwarthirunagar and entered acting, after being pressurised by his brother, director Selvaraghavan. Dhanush was married on 18 November 2004 to actor Rajinikanth's daughter Aishwarya. They have two sons, named Yatra (b. 10 October 2006) and Linga (b. 21 June 2010).

Facebook account

In August 2009, Dhanush publicly announced that an account on Facebook under the name "Dhanush Kasthuri Raja" was not him and was a fake user, taking his identity. The account had nearly 4000 friends added, which the actor claimed were mostly global fans of his. He ordered the user to deactivate the account immediately, before any intentions of tarnishing his image, while he takes up the issue with cyber-crime authorities.