Happy Birthday Dhanush: The actor's stunning performances in films other than Tamil

Dhanush played the role of a mentally-disturbed man in this romantic thriller, ‘Kaadhal Kondein’ (2003), which was directed by his brother Selvaraghavan. This won him critical acclaim and the duo went on to become a super hit combo in the Tamil film industry. The film was also a commercial success and is considered a breakthrough movie in Dhanush’s acting career as it shot him into the Tamil cinema industry's elite group of lead actors. ‘Kaadhal Kondein’ success could be measured by only that it was remade in other Indian languages like in Telugu as ‘Nenu’, in Bengali Bangladesh as ‘Onno Manush’, in Kannada as ‘Ravana’, and in Indian Bengali as ‘Amanush’.
 

On the occasion of Dhanush’s birthday, his first bilingual Telugu-Tamil film, 'Vaathis' teaser will be launched at 6pm. On Wednesday, Dhanush unveiled his look from the film. The film is helmed by Venky Atluri and is titled ‘Sir’ in Telugu. It is touted as a campus tale, where Dhanush will be seen playing the role of a lecturer for the first time in his career. ‘Vaathi’ also stars Samyuktha Menon in the lead, which revolves around the education system and is simultaneously being made in Tamil and Telugu. The film will also mark the actor’s first collaboration with Telugu director Venky Atluri.
 

This 2013 film by Anand L. Rai marked Dhanush’s acting debut in Bollywood and, needless to say, it was a smashing one. He starred alongside Bollywood actresses Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaker and Abhay Deol. ‘Raajnhanaa’ was an epic love story that centres around Dhanush’s character, Kundan, who longs for Zoya’s (Sonam Kapoor) love and attention. The extent to which he goes for Zoya’s love was excellently portrayed in the movie. Dhanush’s portrayal of an obsessive, relatable, and at the same time pitiful and caring lover is something that makes the film remarkable. The film was a commercial as well as a critical success. 
 

The film’s story focuses on an aspiring actor who cannot speak. He enlists the help of a homeless man who has a powerful voice, and together they take over the film industry by storm. But their egos see a clash in the way. ‘Shamitabh’ was Dhanush’s second Hindi film, and he gave a power-packed performance. It also starred Amitabh Bachchan and Akshara Haasan. The film was released in 2015 and was a satirical drama directed by R. Balki. Though the film failed to gain success at the box office, it received mixed reviews from the critics.
 

This is Dhanush's third Hindi film and second collaboration with director Anand L Rai. This film has a dose of everything in it-a little drama, love, anger, and tears. Also, starring Sara Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar, Dhanush plays a medical student who hails from southern India and is forcefully married off to Sara Ali Khan under unusual circumstances. Eventually, he falls for her and how they stand together to cope with an unusual and weird situation is what the film is about. ‘Atrangi Re’ was released on Disney+ Hotstar in 2021 and was also dubbed and released in Tamil as ‘Galatta Kalyaanam’. Though the lead actors' performances were praised, it was criticised for the incoherent screenplay and the confusing storyline.
 

Directed by Ken Scott, the film is an adventure comedy based on Romain Puertolas’ novel ‘The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe’. The film was originally written in French and mostly shot in India, Brussels, Paris, and Rome. The film was released in France in 2018 and in seven different languages; English, French, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. ‘The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir’ also won the Norwegian International Film Festival's Ray of Sunshine Award in 2018 and the best comedy film award at the 2019 Barcelona Sant-Jordi International Film Festival. Though it could not be a commercial hit, critics' consensus, according to Wikipedia, reads, "The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir is undermined by its mawkish indulgences, but Dhanush's charming central performance is difficult to resist."
 

Dhanush's first Hollywood project, 'The Gray Man', was released on July 22nd on Netflix. Helmed by director duo-brothers Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, it also stars Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, and Rege Jean Page in pivotal roles. Dhanush plays an assassin in the film and has been receiving solid praise from fans. Though he doesn't have much screen presence and dialogues, he is being said to be the surprise package of 'The Gray Man'. A spinoff of the film is already in the works at Netflix.