Why Dhanush in Netflix film The Gray Man will make the West look past Bollywood
While Dhanush has been a mainstay in Indian cinema, he is making his mark in Hollywood with the upcoming Netflix action flick The Gray Man. Given that only a handful of Tamil actors have made their mark overseas, Dhanush’s role can hopefully be a gateway for more non-Bollywood actors to get Western projects.
How did he get the role: Not much was known about Dhanush’s role when it was revealed that the Karnan star will be a part of The Gray Man, the highly-anticipated spy thriller directed by The Russo Brothers (of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame fame). Indian audiences were bound to have suspicions lest it would be a stereotypical or tokenistic “brown” role.
But given the trailers and exclusive clips from the movie so far, Dhanush seems to be at par with his high-profile co-stars like Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana De Armas. In a press conference, he revealed that he doesn’t get many speaking parts but he gets his fair share of action sequences.
In a clip shared by film journalist Courtney Howard from the conference, Dhanush is asked how he got the role in the first place.
Pausing for a second, the Tamil actor humbly replied, “I don’t know how I ended up in this film”, drawing laughs amongst the audience.
Adding more context, Dhanush revealed that his casting agency had asked him if he wished to be a part of a “Hollywood project” and a “big film”. While describing his Gray Man experience, he added “it can’t get bigger than this”.
Who does Dhanush play: Introduced as a ‘lethal force’ in his character’s poster, Dhanush plays an assassin called Avik San. Based on the novel of the same name, The Gray Man deals with the pursuit for the CIA mercenary Court Gentry (played by Gosling) as he uncovers incriminating secrets involving the Agency. While Chris Evans’ antagonist Lloyd Hansen leads the violent intercontinental hunt for him, San also seems to be on the trail for his own reasons.
In an exclusive snippet shared by Netflix, San seems to be a skilled hand-to-hand combatant easily overpowering the characters played by Gosling and Ana De Armas. Thankfully, Dhanush wasn’t cast as another brown character who is subjected to the white man’s saviour complex. Instead, here’s Avik San wreaking havoc from the very second he is introduced.
Still, as the Netflix original’s press kit suggests, San is not ruthless all the time. Working his way to the top, he also functions according to his own moral code and doesn’t believe in unnecessary killing. In fact, the press kit also goes on to suggest that a prequel focusing on his character’s backstory can be in the works in the future.
Not Dhanush’s first Hollywood rodeo: The Gray Man might be Dhanush’s first Hollywood blockbuster but this isn’t his first English-language movie. In 2018, he played the titular character in The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir. The delightful adventure comedy starred Dhanush as a street trickster from Mumbai who embarks on an international journey to find his estranged father.
The ensemble also included Barkhad Abidi (the Somalian actor who broke out with Captain Phillips) and Erin Moriarty (who was most recently seen as Starlight in the superhero series The Boys). While the film largely went under-the-radar and fared poorly at the box office, the critical consensus was largely in Dhanush’s favor.
What this casting choice means for other Indian actors: Seasoned veterans in Hindi cinema like Om Puri, Irrfan, Aishwarya Rai, and Naseeruddin Shah have had significant roles in international productions. Others like Priyanka Chopra have completely moved over to Hollywood for their future acting roles. But when it comes to South Indian film industries like Tamil cinema, the representation abroad is comparatively low.
Back in 1988, Rajnikanth made his only Hollywood appearance with a low-budget adventure film titled Bloodstone. Playing a taxi driver who helps the protagonist, the story revolves around an ‘Indiana Jones-style’ artefact that is a part of a larger conspiracy. The film is not avant-garde cinema but it is amusing to see Rajnikanth retain his confident charm in a foreign production.
With Dhanush getting significant international coverage with The Gray Man, one can only hope that international viewers also check out his regional films, most of which are acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. This is just the start and who knows if other high-profile stars like Prabhas, Allu Arjun, Samantha Prabhu, Kamal Haasan and others might make their mark in Hollywood!