Kalenahalli Adaviswamy Dhananjaya (born 23 August 1986), also known as Daali, is an Indian actor, lyricist and film producer known for his work in
Kannada cinema
Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film '' Sati Sulochana'' directe ...
. He made his acting debut in '' Director's Special'' in 2013 for which he won the best debut actor award at the 3rd SIIMA Awards. He turned producer through the film, '' Badava Rascal''. He has also occasionally penned columns for leading Kannada newspapers.
Dhananjaya got the major breakthrough in the film ''
Tagaru
''Tagaru'' () is a 2018 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by Duniya Soori and produced by K. P. Srikanth. It features Shiva Rajkumar, Bhavana and Manvitha in the lead roles along with Dhananjay, Vasishta N. Simha and Dev ...
'' (2018) directed by
Duniya Soori
Suri/Soori known as Duniya Suri or Sukka Suri is an Indian movie director. He became known as Duniya Suri in the wake of the success of his debut movie '' Duniya'', for which he won the 2006–2007 Karnataka State Film Awards in the Best Sc ...
for his performance as a menacing villain. He is now popularly addressed as Daali - the character name in the film. Dhananjaya has also played roles in films in other languages such as Telugu and Tamil.
Early life and family
Dhananjaya was born on 23 August 1986. 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
Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian ci ...
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
JSS Science and Technology University, or in its full name Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara Science and Technology University, formerly Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), is a private university located in Mysore, Karnataka, ...
. He even got a job in a software company,
Infosys
Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is the s ...
. However, he started taking acting more seriously and joined an amateur theatre group called GPIER which was headed and mentored by a senior
Rangayana
Rangayana ( kn, ರಂಗಾಯಣ) is a theatre institute which operates from Mysore, Karnataka, India. It works as an autonomous cultural institute. The organization consists of a professional repertory company, a theatre-training institute ...
artist named Mime Ramesh. He was also recognized and mentored by
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
theatre artist
Christian Stückl
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
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
Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...
.
Film career
Early years (2013–2018)
Dhananjaya appeared in a Kannada short film on YouTube calle 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
V. Harikrishna (born 5 November 1974) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, playback singer and film producer. He has mainly scored music for Kannada films. After his stint as a programmer and assistant musician, Harikrishna made h ...
's debut production. His next was
Preetham Gubbi
Preetham Gubbi is an Indian film screenwriter turned director who works in Kannada film industry. He made his debut as a script writer for the blockbuster Kannada film ''Mungaru Male'' in 2006. He debuted as a director for the film '' Haage Su ...
'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.Actor Dhananjaya turns boxer /ref>Preetham and Dhananjaya to team up for Boxer /ref> 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
The khol is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India for accompaniment with devotional music (''bhakti''). It is also known as a mridanga (<
''Daali"'' opposite
Shiva Rajkumar
Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.
In Tagaru directed by
Duniya Suri
Suri/Soori known as Duniya Suri or Sukka Suri is an Indian movie director. He became known as Duniya Suri in the wake of the success of his debut movie '' Duniya'', for which he won the 2006–2007 Karnataka State Film Awards in the Best Sc ...
. 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
Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), colloquially known as Appu, was an Indian actor, playback singer, television presenter, and producer, who worked in Kannada cinema. He was the youngest son of actor and matinee idol Dr. Raj ...
Duniya Vijay
B R Vijay Kumar, who is professionally known as Duniya Vijay and Duniya Viji, is an Indian actor who appears in Kannada films. He began his career playing small roles until he got his big break in '' Duniya'' (2007). He is noted for his perform ...
in '' Salaga'' as well as paving the way to receive offers for films in other languages.
Producer, lyricist and a writer & Director
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, will be marking Dhananjaya's entry into the journey as a producer under his home banner. The film has the production part and is due for release soon. According to recent announcements Dhananjaya is set to produce second film named ''Head Bush'' under his home banner Daali Pictures. The film based on the life-story of Bangalore's infamous underworld don - Jayaraj.
Dhananjaya has also penned for songs in movies that he has starred in as well as other indie films. The upcoming Kannada film named ''Orchestra -'' a first production venture by musician
Raghu Dixit
Raghupati Dwarakanath Dixit (born 11 November 1974) is an Indian singer-composer, producer, and film score composer who is the frontman for the Raghu Dixit Project, a multilingual folk music band.
Dixit's music is an amalgamation of Indian et ...
being one of his first as a lyricist in Kannada film industry. He has also written multiple songs for his upcoming movie ''Badava Rascal'' among which one of them was released recently and was a huge hit.
Dhananjaya often writes columns in Kannada newspapers choosing topics such as social issues and human values.