Aishwarya R. Dhanush

Aishwarya Rajinikanth Dhanush (born 1 January 1982) is an Indian film director. She is the elder daughter of actor Rajinikanth. She made her feature film debut with 3 (2012) starring her husband Dhanush. She has occasionally done playback singing.

In August 2016, Aishwarya was selected as India's goodwill ambassador for the UN Women organization.

Aishwarya was born to actor Rajinikanth and Latha Rangachari. She has a younger sister, Soundarya, who works in the Tamil film industry as well. Aishwarya is married to the Indian film actor Dhanush, with whom she has two sons, Yatra (born 2006) and Linga (born 2010).

She was a judge on STAR Vijay's dance competition Jodi Number One in its third season alongside actors Sangeetha and Jeeva. She became a playback singer with the film Whistle alongside Silambarasan, which was then followed by the song "Un Mela Aasadhan" in the film Aayirathil Oruvan, for which she also worked as an assistant director.

In August 2011, she announced that she would direct her husband and Shruti Haasan in her first feature film titled 3, with Dhanush going on to clarify that it would be his only film under his wife's direction. The film gained high anticipation prior to release after the song "Why This Kolaveri Di" from its soundtrack, composed by her cousin Anirudh Ravichander, went viral and became an internet phenomenon. She appeared alongside the lead cast and composer in the making of the video. In July 2015, Aishwarya announced she will soon launch a YouTube channel under the banner of "Ten Entertainment" to exclusively promote original content and short films by aspiring filmmakers.

In December 2016, Aishwarya R. Dhanush released her own memoir Standing on An Apple Box: The Story of A Girl Among the Stars. With this book, Aishwarya has revealed her own story of being a celebrity kid, making her career choices, her marriage and above all – being a woman in this era. There is a complete length in her book where she opens up and lets readers explore her life as Rajinikanth’s daughter. She has mentioned splendidly about her love and raising her kids with Dhanush.

In 2012, she won the Newsmaker of the Year Award at the JFA Women Achievers Awards.

She performed Bharatanatyam at the UN headquarters on International Women's Day. However, her performance was received many criticisms in social medias and professional Bharatanatyam dancers. Anita Ratnam wrote on her Facebook "This is what bharatanatyam becomes... A caricature and a farce!".