Did Dhanush face criticism over his looks, early in his career? (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Dhanush who recently directed the film NEEK and achieved success has come a long way in the film industry. Despite his talent, he faced criticism early in his career, particularly for his appearance.
In a recent interview with Filmfare, Dhanush revealed that acting was not his initial choice. He said, “I never wanted to be an actor . . . my heart was not here. I was kind of forced into acting at a very young age. When I started I wasn’t into it.”
It was legendary filmmaker Balu Mahendra who saw potential in him. Dhanush recalled, “He made a film with me, and when we were talking, he said that you are too young right now—I was 19 then—you don’t see what I see in you. You should take this seriously. You have a gift, I hope you see it soon.”
Encouraged by these words Dhanush decided to take acting seriously. He added, “After five to six years, I realized that sometimes you identify your calling and sometimes your calling identifies you. Now I know that I couldn’t have done anything else.”
Dhanush started his career at just 16 and was often mocked for his appearance. Reflecting on those days, he shared, “I faced a lot of criticism for the way I look. I was greeted with a lot of blockbuster success initially and then I had to go through failures where they wrote me off. Then I had to make a comeback.”
Despite his young age, he remained strong. “All this happened when I was very young, and now I am more mature and experienced. But I am proud of how I handled it when I was 17, 18, 19 or 20 years old when I didn’t know this world had nobody to guide me and had no experience or maturity. That teenager handled it brilliantly.”
Even after achieving stardom, Dhanush admitted that handling success and failure is not easy. “I would be lying if I said that. Success affects me; failure also affects me. Failure makes me sad. Success makes me happy. I’m a normal human being. I try to learn from my failures and not repeat the same mistakes. I try not to let success affect the decisions I make in the future.”
