In this paper we consider a class of Dirichlet series with multiplicative coefficients which define functions holomorphic in the right half of the complex plane, and for which there are sequences of Dirichlet polynomials that converge uniformly to these functions in any rectangle within the critical strip. We call such polynomials approximating Dirichlet polynomials. We study the properties of the approximating polynomials, in particular, for those Dirichlet series, whose coefficients are determined by nonprincipal generalized characters, i.e. finite-valued numerical characters which do not vanish on almost all prime numbers and whose summatory function is bounded. These developments are interesting in connection with the problem of the analytical continuation of such Dirichlet series to the entire complex plane, which in turn is tied with the solution of a well-known Chudakov hypothesis about every generalized character being a Dirichlet character.