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3 min readHyderabadJul 27, 2026 10:14 AM IST
Dhanush, who broke his silence on the National Award controversy, said his earlier films deserved the recognition more but never got it
Dhanush has broken his silence on the National Award controversy surrounding Raayan. Speaking at a public event on Sunday, the actor acknowledged that there were better Tamil films released in 2024 than Raayan.
“I agree that films like Meiyazhagan and Maharaja were among the better films than Raayan last year,” Dhanush said. He reminded the audience that across his career, he has delivered multiple performances that were widely expected to win National Awards and never did. He listed them one by one: Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam, Pudhupettai, 3, Mayakkam Enna, Maryan, Raanjhanaa, Vada Chennai, and Karnan. “You all told me I’d win again, but I didn’t,” he said.
He continued, “Today, nearly 90% of people are opposing my National Award. But when several of my films missed out on National Awards they truly deserved, not even 10% of people spoke about it.”
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The argument is hard to dismiss when you look at the range and scale of his filmography. Pudhupettai, Selvaraghavan’s 2006 gangster epic, has always been regarded as one of the greatest Tamil films of the 2000s. On the other hand, Vada Chennai, a sprawling crime saga set across three timelines in the chawls of North Chennai had the actor produced, starred in and staked his career on it.
Karnan, Vetrimaaran’s 2021 film about a village fighting for a bus stop and the caste violence that erupts around it, was one of the most politically charged and critically praised Tamil films of that year. The film won the National Award for Best Tamil Film at the 69th National Film Awards, but Dhanush himself did not win for Best Actor.
Maryan, directed by Bharat Bala in 2013, had Dhanush playing a diver trapped in a Sudanese desert. It was a physically punishing role that he committed to entirely. Raanjhanaa, released the same year in Hindi, was his Bollywood debut. Fans expected that both films would bring him National Award recognition, however, neither did.
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The announcement of Raayan’s National Award triggered an immediate backlash. Fans of Maharaja questioned how a Vijay Sethupathi film with near-universal acclaim could be passed over. Fans of Meiyazhagan, Gautham Vasudev Menon’s tender father-son drama, felt the same. Vikram’s supporters were upset that Thangalaan, a film for which the actor put himself through extreme physical and emotional strain, was ignored entirely. The debate played out across X, Instagram and YouTube for days, with many concluding that Raayan’s win was undeserved.
“Some things do not happen even if you try. They happen naturally, and that is how this award has come to me,” he said. He added that the team behind Raayan made the film with complete sincerity and asked people to look at the bigger picture. “As a Tamilian, I have received these National Awards. Instead of tearing us down, encourage us.”
Raayan, directed by Dhanush himself, was a commercial hit in 2024. It was the Raayan award, specifically Best Tamil Film, that triggered the debate because the competition that year was perceived to be unusually strong.
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