Movies

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 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 (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 has also played roles in films in other languages such as Telugu and Tamil.

Early life and family
Dhananjaya was born on 23 August 1985. 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.