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.

[8] He continued success with films, including Maryan (2013), Velaiilla Pattadhari (2014), Anegan (2015), Maari (2015), Kodi (2016), Vada Chennai (2018), Asuran (2019), Thiruchitrambalam (2022), Vaathi (2023) and Raayan (2024), the lattermost of which emerged as his highest-grossing release.

[9] In 2011, Dhanush's popular bilingual 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.

[24] He debuted in the 2002 teen drama film Thulluvadho Ilamai, directed by his father Kasthuri Raja, which became a sleeper hit.

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.

In 2005, Dhanush appeared in Devathaiyai Kanden and in the same year, he also worked on Balu Mahendra's Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam.

[29] Though it was a commercial disaster at the box office, Dhanush has repeatedly stated that he started taking acting seriously only after working with Mahendra.

[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.

[34] 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.

[36] The song "Un Mele Aasaidhaan" from the action-adventure film Aayirathil Oruvan, which featured him alongside his then wife Aishwarya Rajinikanth, won him his first Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Tamil.

[36] Dhanush's next film, Mayakkam Enna, in which he once again collaborated with his brother, casting him with Richa Gangopadhyay, received positive reviews.

This film had background score composed by A. R. Rahman and received mixed reviews from critics,[42] and it grossed over 94 crore rupees worldwide.

[45] His next film Anegan, a psychological thriller directed by K. V. Anand, which received positive reviews and became a box office success.

[46] 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 Radhika.

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.

[54][55] 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.

[56] Dhanush joined the ensemble cast of Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas in Russo brothers Netflix produced film The Gray Man.

His next project was the black comedy gangster film, Jagame Thandhiram, written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj, which released on 18 June 2021.

He also starred in Aanand L. Rai's August 2021 Hindi-language film Atrangi Re, co-starring Akshay Kumar and Sara Ali Khan.

He was introduced as a playback singer in Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan,[67] 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.

[88] 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.