Is Dhanush the next superstar in Tamil cinema?

With two big films lined up in Hindi and Tamil, and with the grand success of VIP, the lanky actor has become a force to reckon with in Indian cinema

Dhanush’s 2015 could not have gotten off to a better start than this – the trailers that came out recently for his Shamitabh and Anegan were trending in India on Twitter and also crossed one million views in just a few days. An elated Dhanush tweeted, “Both Anegan and Shamitabh trending India thank you for this unconditional love and support.” But there was more in store for him – Dhanush has just received the Best Actor Award for Vellailla Pattadhaari (VIP) from Ananta Vikatan and SICA.

D – as he referred to by friends – has had a great 2014 despite just one release in Tamil and 2015 seems to be only getting better for him. He has Shamitabh with Amitabh Bachchan and Akshara Haasan (who makes her debut) up for release in February along with K V Anand’s Anegan. Later in the year he has Maari directed by Balaji Mohan.

In recent years, Dhanush has started to consciously choose scripts that not just target the mass audience but also the class and multiplex one. The actor is aware of his pluses and weaknesses and that perhaps is his greatest strength at this point. The turning point in his career came with Aadukalam when he walked away with numerous awards including the National Award for Best Actor 2011.

With Kolaveri Di (3) then becoming a global hit, Dhanush became a household name not just in the south but also in the north. And that is when the image of Dhanush underwent a sea change. He wasn’t just an actor who did the uneducated village boy in a lungi roles but he became the king of cool for the youth.

Turning producer in 2012 for 3 was another major milestone in his career and today he has numerous films on the floor including Kaaka Muttai, Kaaki Sattai, Naanum Rowdythaan and Maari. In fact, he has also produced Shamitabh. The movies he chose to produce in many cases star him, but in other cases people whom he has faith in like Sivakarthikeyan and Attakathi Dinesh.

Today, the successful actor-producer is in a position of envy as he has not only cemented his place in Kollywood but even in Bollywood as most actresses there want to do a film with him. VIP last year was one of the biggest hits of the year in Tamil and this year’s impressive line-up is all set to turn Dhanush into an actor who is most bankable at the box office. So is Dhanush the next superstar in Tamil cinema? From the looks of it, the answer is yes!

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