Dhanush was a gawky teenager, when he arrived with a big bang on the Tamil film scene. Like most of the other young actors featured here, 24 year old Dhanush also had his family to thank for his entry into filmdom.

His father, Kasturiraja, produced and elder brother Selvaraghavan directed his first two films, both mega hits.

Dhanush played a gawky school boy in Thulluvatho Ilamai and a precocious college student in Kadal Kondein. This was followed by a third hit, Thiruda Thirudi. He was catapulted to greater stardom than what even Kamal Haasan or Rajnikanth enjoyed.

But after the first three hits, Dhanush's films bombed. One of the main reasons was his poor selection of films, as all of them saw him as a superhero in the Rajnikanth mould.

More recently, Dhanush was in the news for becoming Rajnikanth's son-in-law: he married Aishwarya, the superstar's eldest daughter.

Dhanush's career may yet be rescued by Balu Mahendra's Athu Oru Kana Kaalam and Selvaraghavan's Puthukottai.