Dhanush On Controversy Around His 2026 National Film Award Wins: 'There Were More Deserving Films'

Speaking at an event on Sunday, actor-director Dhanush took to stage to address the recent social media controversy relating to his 2026 National Film Award wins. In the recently announced winners list, Dhanush was awarded the Best Tamil Film award for directing Raayan. He also received a special mention for Best Actor for his performance in Captain Miller.

Addressing comparisons with other films which released in 2024, the star said, “I was awarded the National Award for Raayan. But I agree that there were more deserving Tamil films which released that year (2024). Fans of those films have expressed their love for the films which were not awarded and I fully respect their opinion."

He shared past experiences of his films that he felt deserved recognition, but failed to recieve such accolades. "Earlier, back when I was young, I was told that I would be given a National Award for Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam but I wasn’t. Later, I did Pudhupettai and I was told that I would surely win it for that. I didn’t get the award even then. I did films like 3, Mayakkam Enna, Maryan, Raanjhanaa, Vada Chennai, Karnan… but no matter how hard I worked, I wasn’t given the award for those films. This time, it has worked out and I got the award. At the end of the day, the effort for all these films have been genuine from my side.”   

Instead of criticising his wins, he also urged fans of Tamil cinema to celebrate the fact that a Tamilian was given these two awards. "As a Tamilian, I have received two more National Awards; don't brush this aside, celebrate it," the actor said.

Fans of films such as Meiyazhagan had expressed disappointment in the film not getting the award for Best Tamil film. In the recently announced winners list, Article 370 emerged as the biggest winner, taking home the Best Feature Film award, while Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion) and Mammootty (Bramayugam) shared the Best Actor honour. Yami Gautam won Best Actress for Article 370, and Rajkumar Periasamy was named Best Director for Amaran.