Dhanush is not the guy who will talk tongue-in-cheek, he prefers being simple and honest. The actor tells Divya Kaushik that his decision to choose more Bollywood films rests on the response to Raanjhanaa, but he is open to singing and is already co-producing Anand l Rai’s next
He might not have the looks of a conventional Bollywood hero, but if you have already watched him onscreen in the promos of Raanjhanaa, you would know Dhanush has an outstanding ability to let his reel personality take over his real self. The actor who is known for his huge body of work down South and for being Rajinikanth’s son-in-law can easily win hearts with his simplicity. No wonder Aishwarya (Dhanush’s wife) fell for him too soon (apparently one meeting). We caught up with the actor in a swanky conference room of an upscale hotel. He welcomed us with a broad smile. His expressions said it all — he was excited, little nervous and wanted to say a lot about Anand l Rai’s Raanjhanaa, his first Bollywood film, that happened without much thought.
“The writer of the film Himanshu saw me in one of my songs on YouTube and shown it to Anand sir. They probably were looking for somebody with my kind of body, and then they discussed why not him. After some communications and miscommunications we met. Anand sir gave me a narration for over 20 minutes and I knew what he wanted out of me. I wanted to be a part of the film,” shared the actor, producer and singer, who also have plans to direct the film. Keeping in mind that Raanjhanaa happened, the direction has taken a backseat for now.
Dhanush added that Raanjhanaa began as just another film for him but the journey has left him richer in terms of experience and exposure. “The way the film made me explore this part of the country was fantastic. I would be always thankful that it is through this film I met people like Anand sir. He is the most honest and straight forward person I ever met. Also Himanshu, though he is elder to me, he is like a younger brother. There are only a few people with whom I can be myself and I can also take them for a ride. Himanshu is so close now that I can play pranks on him and say anything that I want to,” he said. Dhanush has never believed in regional divides the industry has followed and commented that now there are more actors switching from South Indian films to Bollywood. “I believe the exposure is great today, knowing who is doing what in what part of the country is much easier now. So the directors keep track of what actor is doing what kind of roles and if they need somebody in that space they call the actor to be a part of the film. This Internet revolution has helped a great deal in finding right people for the project. The regional barriers are diminishing, which is good,” he said and added that whether he will be open to more Bollywood projects or now or what kind of roles will he be opting for, will be only decided after Raanjhanaa is out. “I need to see the audience response first and the release of this film will decide if I would want to do more work here. To talk about the choice of roles, there are certain things an actor can’t do once he is bound by a certain image. In South I have an image and if I will choose Bollywood projects I want to make most of my liberty that I enjoy here,” said Dhanush.
Most of us might term Kolaveri Di as a turning point in his life, but Dhanush said that “people went crazy about the song and not the face of the song. Of course, it gave me the exposure and recognition that I would not have achieved in this part of the country with over ten years of hard work.”
He is open to sing in Bollywood too and he is also co-producing Anand l Rai’s next. “If I would get good opportunities I would take it up as a singer, producer and actor. But I can’t write here,” he smiled.
Dhanush said that he likes being part of projects with real story and with characters that he can relate to. “Ultimately an actor has to emote a character on screen so it is important for him to relate to the character. While doing Raanjhanaa I got so involved and attached to the character that I started identifying myself with that, which is not a very good thing to happen, as it blinds your judgement,” said he and shared that his national award-winning film Aadukalam, and Three are closest to his heart. “The film is about rooster fight and I am allergic to birds. Despite that I spent several months with the roosters and by the end of it I started to know how to communicate with them. It was like living a different life. It was a Tamil film but the slang was such that I took 14 to 16 days to dub it,” he said.
Dhanush has been a huge fan of Rajinikanth but to get him to talk about him is not easy.