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Dhananjaya (actor)

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Dhananjaya
Born
Kalenahalli Adaviswamy Dhananjaya

(1985-08-23) 23 August 1985 (age 39)
Arasikere, Kalenahalli, Karnataka, India
Other namesDaali
Alma materSri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering
Occupations
  • Actor
  • lyricist
  • film producer
Years active2007–present

Kalenahalli Adaviswamy Dhananjaya (born 23 August 1985), also known as Daali, is an Indian actor, lyricist and film producer known for his work in Kannada cinema. 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.[1] He was critically acclaimed for playing the role of Allama Prabhu in Allama (2017). He turned producer through the film, Badava Rascal.[2]

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.[3] Dhananjaya has also played roles in films in other languages such as Telugu[4] and Tamil.

Early life and family

Dhananjaya was born on 23 August 1985.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8][9] 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.[8][9] He was also recognized and mentored by Germany theatre artist Christian Stückl in Germany.[10][11] 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.[9] Thus began his career in Sandalwood.

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 (2013–2018)

Dhananjaya appeared in a Kannada short film on YouTube called Jayanagar 4th Block which has over 2.5 million views as of 2022.[12] Dhananjaya was offered a lead role in Guruprasad's feature film Director's Special.[13] 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.[14][15] 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.[16] 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.[17][18] The role earned him nicknames such as "Nataraakshasa", "Nata bhayanakara", "Daali"[3] 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.[19]

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.[20][21]

Production and other work

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.[22] Badava Rascal - A Kannada film, marked Dhananjaya's entry into the journey as a producer under his home banner.[23] The film directed by Debutant Shankar Guru opened to positive to mixed reviews but became a sleeper hit at the box office.[24][25][26] His next production venture was named Head Bush directed by Debutant Shoonya and story by Agni Shridhar under his home banner Daali Pictures.[27] The film based on the life-story of Bangalore's infamous underworld don - Jayaraj.[28] The film opened to mixed reviews and fared averagely at the box office and attracted controversy over the Veeragase scene in the movie.[29][30][31] 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.[32][33]

Dhananjaya has also penned for songs in movies that he has starred in as well as other indie films.[34] 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.[35][36] 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.[37]

He also penned few lines for the movie Daredevil Mustafa which went to feature in the Karnataka State Budget for the year 2024.[38][39] Dhananjaya often writes columns in Kannada newspapers choosing topics such as social issues and human values.[40][41]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released

All films are in Kannada unless noted otherwise.

As actor

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 Director's Special Dhananjaya Debut Film
2014 Jayanagar 4th Block Himself Actor and Story-writer [42]
2015 Rhaatee Raja
Boxer Raja [14][15]
2016 Jessie Jessie [43]
Badmaash Vijay [44]
2017 Allama Allama Prabhu [45]
Eradane Sala [46]
[47]
Happy New Year RJ Danny
2018 Tagaru Daali [48][3]
Bhairava Geetha Bhairava Kannada-Telugu Bilingual Film
Life Jothe Ondh Selfie Karthik Special Appearance
2019 Yajamana Mittai Soori [49]
2020 Popcorn Monkey Tiger Tiger Seena [50]
2021 Pogaru Dhananjay [51]
Yuvarathnaa Antony Joseph [52]
Salaga Samrat [53]
Rathnan Prapancha Rathnakara [54]
Pushpa: The Rise Jaali Reddy Telugu Film [55]
2022 Badava Rascal Shankar Also producer [56]
Twenty One Hours Srikanth [57]
Bairagee Karna [56]
Monsoon Raaga Katte [56]
Totapuri: Chapter 1 Narayana Pillai [58]
Head Bush M. P. Jayaraj Also producer [59]
Once Upon a Time in Jamaligudda Krishan (Heroshima) [60]
2023 Orchestra Mysuru Shepard Cameo appearance [61]
Gurudev Hoysala Gurudev Hoysala Dhananjaya's 25th film [62]
Paayum Oli Nee Yenakku Jeevan Tamil Film [63][64]
Manu Charitra Rudra Telugu Film
Thothapuri: Chapter 2 Narayana Pillai
2024 Kotee Kotee
Zebra † Adhi Filming; Kannada Film [65]
Pushpa 2: The Rule † Jaali Reddy Filming; Telugu Film
Uttarakaanda† Gabru Sathya Filming [66][67]
Anna From Mexico † TBA Pre-production [68]

As lyricist

Year Song Movie Music Director Ref.
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 [69]
"Suryakanthi"
2024 "Odu Odu" Abbabba Deepak Alexander

As producer (Daali Pictures)

Year Title Ref.
2021 Badava Rascal
2022 Head Bush
2023 Tagaru Palya [70]

As a presenter

Awards

List of film awards and nominations
Film Title Award Category Result Ref.
Director's Special 3rd SIIMA Awards Best Male Debutant Won [71]
Allama 65th Filmfare Awards South Best Actor (Critics) Won [72]
Basavaratna Awards Best Actor Won
Tagaru Zee Kannada Hemmeya Kannadiga Award Best Supporting Actor Won
66th Filmfare Awards South Best Supporting Actor – Kannada Won [73]
8th SIIMA Awards Best Actor in a Negative Role Won [74]
Popcorn Monkey Tiger 9th SIIMA Awards Best Actor – Kannada Won [75]
Salaga 10th SIIMA Awards Best Supporting Actor – Kannada Nominated
67th Filmfare Awards South Best Supporting Actor – Kannada Nominated
Badava Rascal Best Actor – Kannada Won [76]
10th SIIMA Awards Best Actor – Kannada Nominated [77][78]
Yuvarathnaa Best Actor in a Negative Role – Kannada Nominated
Best sensation of Kannada cinema Won

References

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  2. ^ "Dhananjay's Badava Rascal to wrap up with climax and song sequence". The New Indian Express. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "People already call Dhananjaya, Daali". Times of India. 21 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Bhairava Geetha Telugu Movie Review". 123telugu.com. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Team 'Ratnan Prapancha' passes on birthday wishes to Dhananjaya in its own quirky style". The Times of India. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
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  9. ^ a b c "Actor Dhananjaya turns boxer". The Times of India. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Dhananjay took acting lessons in Germany". The Times of India. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
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  13. ^ Software to Sandalwood: A techie's dream come true
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  68. ^ "Kannada duo of Shankar Guru and Dhananjay team up once again for Anna from Mexico". The New Indian Express. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  69. ^ "Second Song Titled Suryakanthi Naanu From Kannada Film Tagaru Palya Out". News18. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
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