Birthday special: Five best films of Dhanush you need to watch

When Dhanush made his debut in ‘Thulluvadho Ilamai’ back in 2002, nobody thought that he would survive in the industry, since he had no looks of a conventional actor. Years later, Dhanush is arguably one of the finest actors we have in Tamil cinema. Over the years, Dhanush has proved his mettle more than once. Dhanush is also one of the few actors to have made a successful career in Bollywood, thanks to the commercial success of ‘Raanjhanaa’. As the star turns a year older today, we give you five must-watch films of Dhanush.

No other actor could’ve pulled off such a dark and disturbing role in his second film. After making his debut in ‘Thulluvadho Ilamai’, Dhanush teamed up with brother Selvaraghavan for the romantic-thriller ‘Kadhal Kondein’. The film follows the story of a mentally-disturbed Vinod (Dhanush), who comes to the city for his education. Vinod falls in love with Divya (Sonia Agarwal), who in turn falls for Aadhi. What follows next forms the core of ‘Kadhal Kondein’. Upon release, the film opened to glowing reviews from critics and became a profitable venture at the box office. Dhanush received excellent response from his portrayal of Vinod, who is later revealed to be a victim of physical abuse. The climax sequence became one of the major highlights of the film, followed by Yuvan Shankar Raja’s score.

'Pudhupettai' (2006) is considered as one of filmmaker Selvaraghavan’s masterful works. Despite negative reviews and poor response, the film has won the hearts of the audiences over the years and earned a cult status, especially among youngsters. ‘Pudhupettai’ is a coming-of-age gangster film that chronicles the life of a gangster Kokki Kumar (Dhanush). Set in North Chennai, ‘Pudhupettai’ talks about Kumar’s journey from a petty criminal to the most powerful gangster in the city. The film also depicted how political parties employee goons to gain mileage for their politics. One of the interesting facts is that the film had veteran actor Kamal Haasan singing a song. The line ‘Theeya Velaiseyanum Kumaru’ became a pop-culture after the release. Recently, Selvaraghavan, in an interview, reportedly stated that he’s planning to do a sequel to ‘Pudhupettai’.

‘Aadukalam’ is perhaps Dhanush’s best performance ever! Following the commercial success of ‘Polladhavan’, Dhanush and Vetri Maaran worked together in the rural-drama ‘Aadukalam’, which went on to become one of the landmark films in Tamil cinema. Strongly rooted in Madurai, the film depicts the rooster fighting culture. Dhanush plays the role of a rooster fighter Kaaru, who challenges his boss Pettaikaran in a life-changing cockfight. When it released in 2011, ‘Aadukalam’ created waves across the country and won six National Awards, sharing the record with Mani Ratnam’s ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’. Dhanush won his first National Award for Best Actor. In fact, ‘Aadukalam’ became a game-changing film for Dhanush, which also became very successful at the box office.

Dhanush reunited with his brother Selvaraghavan for ‘Mayakkam Enna’ in 2011. The film remains one of the underrated works of both Dhanush and Selva. ‘Mayakkam Enna’ tells the story of Karthik (Dhanush), a passionate photographer and his struggles getting a break. Things turn dramatic after Karthik falls in love with his friend’s girlfriend Yamini (Richa Gangopadhyay). What follows next is a series of emotionally-draining episodes between Karthik and Yamini. Upon release, ‘Mayakkam Enna’ opened to mixed reviews from critics and audiences, who felt that the film was a bit stretched. Despite huge expectations, ‘Mayakkam Enna’ became a dud at the box office.

Dhansush collaborated with the ad-filmmaker Bharat Bala for the rescue-drama ‘Maryan’, which released back in 2013. Partially inspired by a true story, the film talks about the emotional love story between Maryan and Malar, played by Dhanush and Parvathy respectively. After a series of events, Maryan is held captive in Sudan and the rest is about how he escapes from the terrorists and reunites with Malar. ‘Maryan’ had one of the biggest openings when it released. Despite positive reviews from critics, the film failed to mint money at the box office. Of the several things, the film was appreciated for its screenplay, visuals and performances. AR Rahman was roped in to compose the songs, which earned a terrific response from music lovers. At the fifth anniversary recently, Dhanush thanked the audience for love and support.