He was the scrawny teenager with a ‘born loser’ look on his face in his first two films. Girls wanted to mother him and the boys felt no threat. It’s with the super success of “Thiruda Thirudi” that his stock shot up. Th ere were a couple of turkeys like ‘Sullan’ but typical of today’s youngsters he doesn’t mind taking on dark characters. He was outstanding in “Pudhupettai” a stark, unwavering look into Chennai’s underbelly. The film flopped but will be rated as a classic in the years to come.
He’s in
Are you an actor by choice or by chance?
By chance. I never wanted to become an actor. I always wanted to become a marine engineer. My father had launched a film about three boys and two girls. One boy dropped out at the last minute and I was forced to take the role.
Your father’s career as a director had plummeted after great success and this was a sort of last ditch effort. Did you look at it as a way of helping him out?
No not in my first film. Maybe after that. I was cursing him during the first film. I hated this field to be very frank. I never visited my father’s shooting spot. I was not interested in meeting stars when they dropped by. It was destiny. My brother was launched as director and he wanted me to play the hero because he felt I would suit the role. I did a lot of homework for that role and started realising I like playing someone else.
When did you start taking acting seriously?
It’s after I played the character Vinod in “Kaadhal Kondein”. You probably wouldn’t believe it but I would sleep on the floor between shots even though I was the producer’s son. One day when the shot was ready the cinematographer picked up the megaphone and called, ‘Dhanush, Dhanush.’ I was fast asleep and woke up only when he said, ‘Vinod’. I became that character. It was also my biggest success ever. My interest was awakened.
From Vinod you suddenly got this Bruce Lee kind of image. How did that happen?
I really don’t know. My brother always wanted me to be known as a great actor. He wanted me to do off-beat films. ‘Thiruda Thirudi’ was a massive success but a couple of films close to my heart flopped. So I either have to satisfy myself or the fans.
One can see the amount of hard work that went into making ‘Pudhupettai’. What happens when such a film flops?
We were prepared for such a reaction. It was ‘the’ film of my career. I can never ever perform like that again. The entire credit goes to my brother, Selva. When he casts me he’s a hard taskmaster. Yes, we did work very, very hard. When my father-in-law watched the film he first mentioned the same point. We wanted the movie to do well to help us take more creative risks but that didn’t happen. We didn’t know what to do next. I did a ‘pucca’ commercial film in Tamil and my brother did a ‘pucca’ commercial film in Telugu. Both succeeded. We decided to give a gap before working together again.
‘Thiruvilayadal’ came at a time when people were saying Dhanush needs his brother as director. Was that one of the reasons for not working together?
The level of my performance goes up when he’s the director. Other than him only Balu Mahendra has given me a fantastic role. The big directors have their set of actors and I’m working with the rest. “Thiruvilayadal” is a ‘Dhanush badly needs a hit’ film.
When you say you plan a hit are you saying you are involved in the script and other departments?
Yes. If I feel the screenplay needs changes and they’re prepared to do it I agree. I am particular about certain factors being there in my film.
So you will be the third director from your family shortly.
Very soon. I’m eleven films old. Right after my fifth film I wanted to direct. It’ll be sooner than you expect.
Fame, marriage and a child. Has life suddenly moved in ‘fast forward’ for you?
It’s scary. You’re right everything’s happening so soon. It’s weird. Till my third film I didn’t know anything.
Were you a little scared that Aishwarya was Rajnikant’s daughter?
Even that happened very fast. Rajni Sir wanted to meet me after watching “Kadhal Kondein” as a gesture of appreciation and encouragement. At that time I had no idea what the future held. I’m sure he would have asked around. It was more an arranged marriage; she’s very close to my sister.
I’m sure people are curious about the equation you share with Rajni after marriage.
It’s normal. I don’t take any help from him nor does he want me to. Every single penny I earn should be from my work. Call it ego or self respect. That’s what I am.
Thanks to your father-in-law you have a
No. I’ve really not had the time to do so. I plan to come with my wife who should be able to take me. I did visit the place she grew up in thanks to a delayed flight.
Who’s the actor you admire?
Al Pacino. I adore him. A guy called
S. SHIVA KUMAR
