Dhananjay (Daali): Everything About The Actor, Producer, And Lyricist!

Kalenahalli Adaviswamy Dhananjaya, popularly known as Daali is an Indian film actor, lyricist, and producer. He predominantly works in Kannada movies and also appears in Telugu and Tamil languages. Daali made his acting debut with the 2013 Kannada film ‘Director’s Special’, directed by Guruprasad.

However, the actor got a major break with ‘Tagaru’, a film released in 2018. Daali also turned producer and lyricist with the 2021 film Badava Rascal. The actor is quite popular on social media platforms with 1.3 million followers on Instagram and 8 lakh followers on Facebook.

Dhananjay Physical Stats

Dhananjay Family

Daali was born on 23 August 1985 to Adaviswamy and Savitramma. The actor was the youngest of four children and he has two elder sisters and an elder brother. Daali is a bachelor and is not known to be dating anyone.

Dhananjay Education

The actor did his schooling at St. Mary’s High School in Arasekere Taluk. Later, he joined Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering and earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering.

Dhananjay Controversies

In October 2022, Daali was mired in controversy as a fight scene in his film ‘Head Bush’ was sharply criticized by a section of the people. In the scene, Jayaraj,  the protagonist was seen beating his rivals who were clad in Veeragase costumes.

Veeragase is a staple in Karaga Utsava, celebrated every year in Bengaluru. However, Daali later cleared the air by stating that the character of Jayaraj is actually beating those who are insulting Veeragase and they have clearly shown the difference in the film.

Dhananjay Profession

Daali has been actively involved in theatre since his college days. The actor, along with his team also emerged as winners in several inter-collegiate fests. When he was in the fifth semester of his engineering course, Daali got a job with Infosys, the IT behemoth. However, after working for a year, Daali quit that job as he was quite passionate about pursuing a career in acting. 

Subsequently, the actor shifted to Bengaluru and landed his first acting offer in the 2013 film  ‘Director’s Special’, directed by Guruprasad. However, it took three years for that film to hit the theatres. During that period, Daali wrote the story and acted in the short film ‘Jayanagar 4th Block’. Later, Director’s Special was released and for his debut movie, Daali won the Best Debut Actor award at the 3rd SIIMA Awards.

Daali later went on to act in films such as Rhaatee, Boxer, Jessie, Badmaash, Allama, Eradane Sala, and Happy New Year. However, all 7 films tanked at the box office. In 2018, Daali got a major break in his career with the blockbuster film ‘Tagaru’, directed by Duniya Soori. The actor portrayed the role of ‘Daali’ and since then he has been popularly known by that character’s name.

In 2021, Daali turned producer with the film ‘Badava Rascal. He also wrote the lyrics of the song “Udupi Hotelu” in the movie. Daali later produced the films ‘Head Bush’ and ‘Tagaru Palya’ as well. The actor also wrote the lyrics for several songs such as “Habibi Habibi”, “Maadappa”, “Sulla Chandira”, “Nadiyondu” and “Dum Idre Hodi Nanna”.  

Apart from Kannada, Daali has also acted in Telugu films such as ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ and ‘Manu Charitra’. In Tamil, he appeared in ‘Paayum Oli Nee Yenakku’, a film directed by Karthik Adwait.

Dhananjay’s Source Of Income

Daali’s main source of income is from acting and producing films. Reportedly, the actor’s net worth stands at Rs.1 crore.

Lesser Known Facts About Dhananjay

• When Daali’s mother conceived him, the actor’s parents had planned to abort the baby. However, the doctor who was in charge advised them not to go for an abortion as Daali’s mother was already in the fourth month of pregnancy.

• Daali once revealed that in the initial days of his career, he did not even get the travel allowance for commuting to the shoot location. Although he created a WhatsApp group to get his pending payment, the actor later realized that all the group members exited that group.

• According to the actor, by the time the filming of the movie ‘Badava Rascal’ was over, he had only twenty-seven thousand rupees left as his bank balance.

• When Daali’s films flopped back to back at the box office, he was termed by many as ‘Iron Leg’.

Read more: Rana Daggubati: Family, Wife, Controversies, And More!

Kusha Kapila: The Fashion Editor Who Turned Comedian!