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Dhananjaya Biography: From Engineering to Actor

Dhananjaya Bimography
Quick Info→
Real Name: Kalenahalli Adaviswamy Dhananjaya
Profession:
  • Actor
  • lyricist
  • film producer
Birthplace: Kalenahalli, Arasikere, Hassan District, Karnataka, India
Age: 39

Kalenahalli Adaviswamy Dhananjaya (born 23 August 1985), also known as Daali, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Kannada and Telugu films . He has won three Filmfare Awards and four SIIMA Awards for his performances in various films.

Dhananjaya made his acting debut in Director’s Special (2013) for which he won the best debut actor award at the 3rd SIIMA Awards. He was critically acclaimed for playing the role of Allama Prabhu in Allama (2017). He turned producer through the film, Badava Rascal.

Dhananjaya got the major breakthrough in the film Tagaru (2018) directed by Duniya Soori for his performance as a menacing villain. He is now popularly addressed as “Daali”, the character name in the film.

Dhananjaya Bimography
Dhananjaya Bimography
Dhananjaya Biography
Born
Kalenahalli Adaviswamy Dhananjaya

23 August 1985 (age 39)

Kalenahalli, Arasikere, Hassan District, Karnataka, India
Other names Daali
Alma mater Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering
Occupations
  • Actor
  • lyricist
  • film producer
Years active 2007–present

Early life and family (Dhananjaya Biography)

Dhananjaya was born on 23 August 1985 in Kalenahalli, Arsikere taluka, Hassan District. Dhananjaya excelled in studies and had secured top marks for the whole of Hassan District once when he was in 7th standard and then again in 10th standard. He says he grew up watching Dr. Rajkumar movies and hence he started acting in dramas, mono-acting competitions and street plays while he was still in school.

Dhananjaya then moved to Mysore for higher studies and having completed his PUC in Marimallappa College, he secured an engineering seat in one of the reputed engineering colleges in Mysore, SJCE. He even got a job in a software company, Infosys. However, he started taking acting more seriously and joined an amateur theatre group called GPIER which was headed and mentored by a senior Rangayana artist named Mime Ramesh.

He was also recognized and mentored by Germany theatre artist Christian Stückl in Germany. During one of his performances in a drama, he was recognised by popular Kannada director Guruprasad and was offered a lead role in a feature film. Thus began his career in Sandalwood.

Dhananjaya Bimography
Dhananjaya Bimography

Film career

Dhananjaya with the cast and crew at the presentation of the film ‘Allama’, during the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI-2016), in Panaji, Goa on 26 November 2016.

Early years (2013–2017)

Dhananjaya appeared in a Kannada short film on YouTube called Jayanagar 4th Block which has over 2.5 million views as of 2022. Dhananjaya was offered a lead role in Guruprasad’s feature film Director’s Special. The film took three years in the making and was finally released in 2013 to mixed and negative responses at the box office. Dhananjaya was lauded for his performance and won the best debut actor award at the 3rd SIIMA Awards for the same. Many prominent filmmakers approached him for the roles in their films. He was then cast in A. P. Arjun’s next film Rhaatee opposite Shruthi Hariharan under musician V. Harikrishna’s debut production.

His next was Preetham Gubbi’s film Boxer, produced under Jayanna Films banner, which brought him wide accolades. He was known for his fit boxer’s body, which he had achieved by rigorous training. He was then offered a role by National award-winning director T. S. Nagabharana for the film Allama which is based on the life of 12th century saint poet Allama Prabhu. Dhananjaya underwent harsh training to master the musical instrument Mridanga and also the classical dance for the role and received great reviews for his performance. Although his movies did not make a big impact on the box office collection, he constantly received good reviews from the audience and critics for his acting skills.

Daali and success (2018–present)

His biggest breakthrough came when he was offered a negative role named “‘Daali opposite Shiva Rajkumar In Tagaru directed by Duniya Suri. Director Suri has shared that he was a bit hesitant to offer negative role to Dhananjaya as he was always playing good deed doing lead (or hero) roles in his previous movies and was pleasantly surprised when he accepted the offer. The film opened with very good reviews and was declared a huge hit in terms of box office collection. Dhananjaya’s acting as a menacing villain won him accolades across the film fraternity, critics and the audience.

The role earned him nicknames such as “Nataraakshasa“, “Nata bhayanakara“, “Daali etc. He is currently one of the most sought-after actors who is seen as a capable lead to play both antagonist and protagonist roles. After this movie, he has played many roles with leading actors in the Kannada film industry such as Darshan in Yajamana, Puneeth Rajkumar in Yuvarathna and Duniya Vijay in Salaga as well as paving the way to receive offers for films in other languages.

He then starred in the film Rathnan Prapancha directed by Rohit Padaki and produced by KRG Studios which was their maiden production venture. The film had a direct OTT Release on Amazon prime and received positive reviews and deemed a blockbuster.

Production and other work (Dhananjaya Biography)

Riding on the success of his acting career in Sandalwood, Dhananjaya has set up his own production house Daali Pictures named after his popular character Daali. Badava Rascal – A Kannada film, marked Dhananjaya’s entry into the journey as a producer under his home banner. The film directed by Debutant Shankar Guru opened to positive to mixed reviews but became a sleeper hit at the box office. His next production venture was named Head Bush directed by Debutant Shoonya and story by Agni Shridhar under his home banner Daali Pictures.

The film based on the life-story of Bangalore’s infamous underworld don – Jayaraj. The film opened to mixed reviews and fared averagely at the box office and attracted controversy over the Veeragase scene in the movie. His third production was Tagarupalya, a rural comedy drama movie directed by Debutant Umesh Krupa, starring Nagabushana, Debutante Amrutha Prem, Rangayana Raghu and others. The movie opened to positive to mixed reviews and performed decently at the box office.

Dhananjaya has also penned for songs in movies that he has starred in as well as other indie films. The Kannada film Orchestra Mysuru- a first production venture by musician Raghu Dixit being one of his first as a lyricist in Kannada film industry. He has also written multiple songs for his production movies Badava Rascal, Head Bush, Tagru Palya among which many of them were a huge hit.

He also penned few lines for the movie Daredevil Mustafa which went to feature in the Karnataka State Budget for the year 2024. Dhananjaya often writes columns in Kannada newspapers choosing topics such as social issues and human values.

Dhananjaya Bimography
Dhananjaya Bimography

Filmography (Dhananjaya Biography)

Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released

 

Year Title Role Language Notes
2013 Director’s Special Dhananjaya Kannada Debut film
2014 Jayanagar 4th Block Himself Actor and Story-writer
2015 Rhaatee Raja
Boxer Raja
2016 Jessie Jessie
Badmaash Vijay
2017 Allama Allama Prabhu
Eradane Sala
Happy New Year RJ Danny
2018 Tagaru Daali
Bhairava Geetha Bhairava Kannada
Telugu
Life Jothe Ondh Selfie Karthik Kannada Special appearance
2019 Yajamana Mittai Soori
2020 Popcorn Monkey Tiger Tiger Seena
2021 Pogaru Dhananjay
Yuvarathnaa Antony Joseph
Salaga Samrat
Rathnan Prapancha Rathnakara
Pushpa: The Rise Jaali Reddy Telugu
2022 Badava Rascal Shankar Kannada Also producer
Twenty One Hours Srikanth
Bairagee Karna
Monsoon Raaga Katte
Totapuri: Chapter 1 Narayana Pillai
Head Bush M. P. Jayaraj Also producer
Once Upon a Time in Jamaligudda Krishan (Heroshima)
2023 Orchestra Mysuru Shepard Cameo appearance
Gurudev Hoysala Gurudev Hoysala
Paayum Oli Nee Yenakku Jeevan Tamil
Manu Charitra Rudra Telugu
Thothapuri: Chapter 2 Narayana Pillai Kannada
2024 Kotee Kotee
Mazhai Pidikkatha Manithan Daali Tamil
Tagaru Palya Kannada Producer only
Zebra Aadhi Telugu
Pushpa 2: The Rule Jaali Reddy
TBA Uttarakaanda Gabru Sathya Kannada Filming

As lyricist

Year Song Film Composer
2021 “Udupi Hotelu” Badava Rascal Vasuki Vaibhav
2022 Habibi Habibi Head Bush Charan Raj
2023 “Maadappa” Orchestra Mysuru Raghu Dixit
“Sulla Chandira”
“Nadiyondu”
“Dum Idre Hodi Nanna”
“Sangeeta Sagara”
“Arey Arey”
“Idu Yeno Ondthara”
“Haaduve Naa Haaduve”
“Tagaru Palya Title Track” Tagaru Palya Vasuki Vaibhav
“Suryakanthi”
2024 “Odu Odu” Abbabba Deepak Alexander

Awards (Dhananjaya Biography)

List of film awards and nominations
Work Award Category Result
Director’s Special 3rd SIIMA Awards Best Male Debutant Won
Allama 65th Filmfare Awards South Critics Best Actor – Kannada Won
Basavaratna Awards Best Actor Won
Tagaru Zee Kannada Hemmeya Kannadiga Award Best Supporting Actor Won
66th Filmfare Awards South Best Supporting Actor – Kannada Won
8th SIIMA Awards Best Actor in a Negative Role Won
Popcorn Monkey Tiger 9th SIIMA Awards Best Actor – Kannada Won
Salaga 10th SIIMA Awards Best Supporting Actor – Kannada Nominated
67th Filmfare Awards South Best Supporting Actor – Kannada Nominated
Badava Rascal Best Actor – Kannada Won
10th SIIMA Awards Best Actor – Kannada Nominated
Yuvarathnaa Best Actor in a Negative Role – Kannada Nominated
Best sensation of Kannada cinema Won
Tagaru Palya 69th Filmfare Awards South Best Lyricist – Kannada Nominated

 

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