Dhanush hits back at trolls calling his struggles fake: ‘We wouldn’t get money’

Dhanush (Pic credit: AFP)

Dhanush is gearing up for the release of his slice-of-life drama Idli Kadai. The film revolves around the protagonist's homecoming to resurrect his father's small idli eatery. During the audio launch of the film, Dhanush recalled how the story resonates with his childhood struggles, saying he used to earn money to buy idlis. Netizens called the claim a blatant lie, as he is the son of the known filmmaker Kasthuri Raja. He has not hit back at trolls but explained how his family lived in poverty and how his father had multiple responsibilities.

Dhanush hits back at trolls

Recently, Dhanush was asked about this at a pre-release event of the film, and he explained, "I was born in the year 1983. My dad turned a director in the year 1991. So, those eight years, we were in poverty. Even after he became a director, he had the responsibility of taking care of four children. He had to provide schooling for all of us and take care of us. During 1994-1995, it became okay. We started having a good lifestyle."

He added, "However, when you are young, if you go ask your elders for money, they won't immediately give it. This is especially true in households that run on a budget. My siblings and I (four of us) were children who understood the situation at home. We wouldn't want to be a burden to our parents. So, even if we asked, we wouldn't get money, and we wouldn't ask also. Therefore, we worked in the fields, earned money, and bought idlis with it."

When Dhanush recalled his struggles

Dhanush said, "An idli kadai is a very important aspect of my childhood. We didn't have any money during our childhood to buy idlis from the idli kadai in our place. So, we started collecting flowers from the fields and selling them for money. My sister, cousins, and I would wake up at 4 am to do this every day so that we could have idlis from that shop. Nothing to this day beats the taste of those 4-5 idlis we bought with our hard-earned money. This film is my tribute to that place."

For the unversed, Idli Kadai also stars Rajkiran, Nithya Menen, Arun Vijay, Sathyaraj, Shalini Pandey, and others. The film, which was earlier slated to release on April 10, is now hitting the screens on October 1.