Dhanush (actor)

Dhanush
Dhanush at the 60th South Filmfare Awards, 2013
Born	Venkatesh Prabhu 28 July 1983 (1983-07-28) (age 33) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Film actor director producer playback singer lyricist
Years active	2002 – present
Spouse(s)	Aishwarya R. Dhanush (2004–present)
Children	2
Parent(s)	Kasthuri Raja (father) Vijayalakshmi (mother)
Relatives	Selvaraghavan (brother) Rajinikanth (father-in-law)

Venkatesh Prabhu (born 28 July 1983), known by his stage name Dhanush, is an Indian film actor, director, producer, writer, lyricist, and playback singer best known for his work in Tamil cinema.

Dhanush's first film was Thulluvadho Ilamai, a 2002 coming-of-age film directed by his father, Kasthuri Raja. Over the next ten years, Dhanush has starred in over 25 films. Dhanush won the Best Actor award at the 58th National Film Awards for his performance in Aadukalam (2010). In 2011, Dhanush received international attention with his popular song "Why this Kolaveri Di", which became the first Indian video song to cross 100 million views on YouTube. Dhanush produces films under his production company, Wunderbar Films. He has won 3 National Film Awards and 7 Filmfare Awards.

Born to Tamil film director and producer Kasthuri Raja, Dhanush entered acting after being pressured by his brother, director Selvaraghavan. Dhanush married Aishwarya, Rajinikanth's daughter, on 18 November 2004. They have two sons named Yatra and Linga who were born in 2006 and 2010. He studied at the Thai Sathiya Matriculation High School.

Dhanush debuted in the film Thulluvadho Ilamai, directed by his father Kasthuri Raja, which received mostly positive reviews from critics and the public. He then appeared in his brother Selvaraghavan's first directorial venture, Kadhal Kondein. The film portrayed Dhanush as a mentally-disturbed youth, Vinodh, who yearned for the love of his friend, eventually turning possessive over her. Upon release, the film won critical acclaim and also became a major commercial success. His next film, released later in 2003, was Thiruda Thirudi.