Chennai, Nov. 26: He is the famous son-in-law of a famous former bus conductor. Now, a retired bus conductor has claimed that actor Dhanush - of Kolaveri fame - is his son.

R. Kathiresan, 60, the retired conductor, and his wife K. Meenakshi, 55, have approached a judicial magistrate's court saying Dhanush, the son-in-law of bus conductor-turned-superstar Rajinikanth, should pay them a monthly maintenance.

The couple, from Manampatti village near Melur, 480km from here, even presented a birth certificate and childhood photographs, supposedly of Dhanush, to support their claim.

Kathiresan claimed that Dhanush's original name was Kalaiselvan and that he had run away from his residential school in a neighbouring district while studying in Class XI in 2002.

"He also changed his name to Dhanush K. Raja after he came under the custody of producer-director Kasturi Raja," Kathiresan claimed in his petition to the judicial magistrate's court in Melur.

Kathiresan wants the court to direct Dhanush to pay them Rs 65,000 as maintenance as they were not being able to meet their monthly expenses.

The magistrate has directed Dhanush, 33, to appear before the court on January 12.

Dhanush, who is yet to react to the development but is reportedly taking legal advice, is the youngest of the three children of Kasturi Raja.