Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja, known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. 

Having starred in 46 films over his career, his accolades include four National Film Awards (two as actor and two as producer), fourteen SIIMA Awards, seven Filmfare Awards South and a Filmfare Award. He has been included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list six times.

 

Dhanush began his acting career by debuting in the film Thulluvadho Ilamai, a 2002 coming-of-age film directed by his father, Kasthuri Raja. He then appeared in the movie, Kadhal Kondein (2003) which became a career breakthrough film and also garnered his first nomination in the Filmfare Awards for Best Actor - Tamil. Dhanush continued to venture himself in both commercial as well as experimental movies, such as Thiruda Thirudi (2003), Devathaiyai Kanden (2005), Puthupettai (2006) and others. 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. Following the viral hit song, he grabbed the opportunity to make 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 also ventured himself in an international film, titled The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir (2019) and followed by The Grey Man (2021) which directed by Russo Brothers.

 

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 first South Indian video song to reach 1.5 billion views on YouTube. Dhanush won his second National Film Award for Best Actor for Asuran (2019).

 

While his Captain Miller, a movie directed by Arun Matheswaran which scheduled to be released on 12th January 2024 in conjunction with Pongal 2024, Dhanush also completed his 50th movie, which tentatively titled as #D50 under his own direction as well as his third directorial venture, Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam subsequently. With amazing collaborations in the line-up, Dhanush pulled the major tasks of his career in a short time period. Let's wait and see what he has in store to amaze the fans as well as the general audience in his upcoming ventures. 

 

Dhanush is Our Artist Of The Month! Join us as we celebrate him throughout the month of January!