A promising theatre artiste

He is an English teacher and is equally good at acting in theatre.

Thirty nine year old Dhananjaya was born on November 10, 1972 in Mysore to the couple  L Komala and R Nagaraja. He had his school education in Devaraja government school and completed pre-university in Marimallappa college. He obtained his BA from Maharaja College in 1993 and MA in English from University of Mysore in 1995. 

He worked as a lecturer in English for 5 years in Vijaya First grade college, Pandavapura and  in the year 2000 he joined Sarada Vilas Law College as English lecturer and continues to serve there.

Dhananjaya was introduced to theatre when he met B V Karanth and his team and got inspired. He received support from his brother Harish, who was a theatre person and a news reader with a local TV channel. 

He attended theatre worshop organized  by Amara Kala Sangha, Mysore and was guided by B V Karanth, H S Umesh, Yoganarasimha, Nagendra Sha, Rajashekara Kadamba, Jayaram Tatachar, Makeup Jayaram, Gangadhara Swamy, S R Ramesh and others – which helped him improve his theatre skills.

For the first time he acted as “ Raja bhatta”  in the drama “Ooru Banga” directed by Rangayana Raghu and  later in Bombeyata written by K T Gatti in 2001.

Dhananjaya developed a good rapport with amateur and professional troupes – AmaraKala sangha, Kadamba Ranga Vedike, Kalapriya, Surachi, Janamana, Gejje Hejje, Samudaya, Ranga Sangama, Poorna Prajna and Samatento and began associating himself with the groups.

Since 2008, he is the organising secretary  of Samanvaya troupe and has directed many plays.

He has acted in many plays Suryashikari, Chammarana chaluki  Hendathi, Hamsa geethay, Sandhyaraga, So far he has acted in more than 100 dramas and achieved laurels. He has directed two plays – Kashmira yatray and Havu Yeni. He has acted in TV serials Papa Pandu and Hogli Bidi Sir.

Dhananjaya has a a flair for writing. He has published articles on theatre work in Kannada for 40 weeks in local daily.

He has compiled all the articles published has released into a a book form titled, Ranga Spandana.
 
He actively participates in seminars,  workshops and symposiums on theatre related work. He proudly says that his mentor noted theatre director H S Umesh.

Dhananjaya now conducts Nataka Vachana (Drama Reading) activity in Surachi Ranga Mane and attracts people interested in theatre field.