It's birthday time for Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja, popularly known as Dhanush. He’s turning 32 but just two years ago, the actor played the role of a 16 year old school going boy, perfectly matching the character.Dhanush’s first movie came out in 2002 and till date he has performed in more than 30 movies. Those who remember Dhanush during his earlier days will distinctly remember him as the nerd with some psychological disorders, in his movies.However times have changed and now Dhanush has experimented in his films as the angry bad man, in his most recent flick ‘Maari’.In his first two movies, Thulluvadho Ilamai (2002) and Kaadal Kondein (2003), both psychological thrillers, Dhanush played the role of an unpopular college student. Kaadal Kondein, 2003 Image: Youtube/kannanjskThe last fight scene, Tandawam in Kaadal Kondein, was a good attempt for someone who had come new to the industry.In 2004, when Dhanush got hitched to Rajnikant’s Daughter, it got tougher for him to establish a separate identity for himself. He became the Mapillai of the entire Tamil Film Industry.From then onwards, Dhanush moved from psychological thriller’s to a boy next door roles.The films that followed did not do quite well at the box office. Sullan (2004) also dubbed as ‘Tezaab-the terror’ in Hindi, can still be seen running on some Hindi channels. Why this Kolaveri di? Image: Wikimedia commonsIt was the story of a typical careless son of a hard working father.The mere sight that a slim body hero (Dhanush) taking down on a well-built villain (Pashupathy) did not go down well with the audience who rejected the movie.The safest movie formula of a poor careless boy eyeing on rich girls, did not seem to work for our Dhanush. In 2005 he came out with Devathayai Kanden, in 2006 with Thiruvilaiyaadal Aarambam and then Polladhavan (2007), Padikkadavan (2009), Uthamaputhiran (2010), Mappillai (2011) were released, but they did not score much at the box office. His 2006 movie Pudupettai was a phenomenoal hit in which he plays the role of a Tamil gangster. Loosely based on real events, the movie traces his life from an innocent school kid to a powerful gangster and then a politician. Devathayai Kanden, 2005. Image: Youtube/HannanhrnAlso most of them were named after old Rajni movies, which many questioned was an attempt to pull crazy Rajni fans who would drive to the theatres by the mere name of their thalaiva.Things changed positively for our Raanjhanna, post 2011, when Aadukalam came out. Not only was Dhanush praised for his acting but the movie also got him a National Film Award for Best Actor.The Film was based on the gang war between rooster breeders, in Madurai. Aadukalam, 2011. Image: Youtube/Tamil Cinema GlitzAnother such movie which gave an impetus to Dhanush’s career was ‘3’, a 2012 film. The film was directed by Dhanush’s wife, Aishwarya, (finally it changed from being Rajni’s Daughter, to his wife).A psychological thriller revolving around the love story that begins in school and goes through a rollercoaster ride because of Ram’s (Dhanush) bipolar disorder, which affects his happy married life with Janani (Shruti Hassan). The movie '3', 2012. Image: Youtube/Mango VideoThe film gained publicity much before its release thanks to Why this Kolaveri Di?, sung by Dhanush himself. The song was released on 16 November, 2011 and was a hit mainly because of its Tanglish words.Take a look at the song here.Raanjhanaa, marked Dhanush’s debut in Bollywood. The film did good business and both the lead actors were praised for their roles. Raanjhanaa, 2013. Image: Youtube/Eros NowIn an interview to a news channel, Dhanush once said that the most difficult part for him in this movie was to pick up the right Varanasi Hindi accent.Next was Shamitabh, in which Dhanush shared the title role along with Amitabh Bachchan. The film got mixed reviews with some praising it, while some dubbing it as emotion less. Shamitabh, 2015 Image: Dhanush FB pageDhanush is now riding high on his co-production venture, Maari, which is fighting it out tough between S.S Rajamouli’s Baahubali and Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan. An action drama, this film ssees Dhanush as a morta local rowdy, who wears a colorful lungi, and an even brighter shirt and gold chains all around his neck.In most of his previous movies, Dhanush has played the role of school or college going boy, but now he is turning towards more rogue roles . His young looking face and a slim physique which initially made it difficult for him to be an action hero is now in fact helping him grab such roles. Maari, 2015. Image:Dhanush FB page‘Senjirve’, is the punch dialogue, which he probably says after every time he punches people in Maari.The film also made headlines for the smoking scenes in it to which Dhanush answered that people must be inspired by the real me and not the reel one. Updates: This article has been corrected and amended based on reader-feedback