Dhanush on people referring to him as a south actor says, ‘I would appreciate it if they collectively call us Indian actors, rather than south actors or north actors'

Dhanush is one of the most versatile actors that Indian cinema has. The actor recently made his Hollywood debut with the film The Gray Man which premiered on July 22. The Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe Russo, who are behind some of the biggest and most well-known films of all time, have directed The Gray Man, an action-packed visual extravaganza starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, and Dhanush.

In The Gray Man, Dhanush plays Avik San, also known as The Lone Wolf, a shadowy assassin who meets Ryan Gosling's lead character. Avik's ethnicity is not stated in the original source material, the Mark Greaney book of the same name. But in the movie, Chris Evans' character refers to him as his sexy Tamil friend. Justifying the decision to make Avik San exclusively Tamil, Dhanush said, “It’s not absolutely necessary but there is nothing wrong with it. The more the details, the better! Joe Russo told me the more the flavor, the better it is. So, we were just trying to add a little more flavor. I don’t think there is any harm in saying he is a Tamil guy from India.”

Further, the actor also spoke about people referring to him as a ‘south’ actor, he shared, “I would appreciate it if they collectively call us Indian actors, rather than south actors or north actors. The world has shrunk and borders and lines are fading. This is the time to come together and make this one big industry. It is a huge industry. It will be really great if we function together and make movies for everybody, not just south audience or north audience--not regional films but national films.”

He added, “Every film is for everybody, especially with the digital platforms. Now everybody has easy access to watch everybody’s work. Talents are easily seen. This is a great time to be an actor as well. If you do a good job, if you do your job right, you are noticed by everybody. So, it just doesn’t make sense in these times to call me or anybody else a south actor. We’re just actors from India.”

The Gray Man is currently streaming on Netflix.