G. Dhananjayan

G. Dhananjayan
Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Swarna Kamal Award for the Best Film Critic to Shri G. Dhananjayan
Born
Senjiagaram Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
OccupationsManagement Professional, Director – BOFTA Film Institute
Years active2006–present
SpouseLalitha Dhananjayan
ChildrenDL Harita, DL Revati

G. Dhananjayan (GD) is an Indian film producer, distributor, columnist, author of four books on Indian films, and founder-director of BOFTA Film Institute.[1] He has produced films in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi languages,[2] including Sankat City (2009), Kanden Kadhalai (2009), Mugamoodi (2012), Anjaan (2014) and Irudhi Suttru (2016), Kaatrin Mozhi (2018), Kabadadaari (2021), and Kodiyil Oruvan (2021). He has won two National Film Awards.

Education and work

G. Dhananjayan holds an MBA degree from Sydenham Institute of Management SIMSREE, University of Mumbai (1991 batch),[3] and earned his Ph.D. from Mumbai University for his thesis on the Indian Film Industry in March 2019.

He worked in Asian Paints Ltd, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Saregama, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone for more than 15 years before joining Moser Baer Entertainment in 2006. Dhananjayan was the company's Chief Operating Officer[4][5] of Home Video Business and then chief executive officer of the Film Business.

Dhananjayan was one of the two founding members of Moser Baer Entertainment in April 2006. Within 6 months, GD acquired the copyright/marketing rights for over 10,000 film titles in ten languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi to launch DVDs and VCDs under the banner of Moser Baer. This allowed to compete with low-priced unauthorized copies of DVDs.[6]

Dhananjayan was associated with UTV Motion Pictures (now part of Disney-India) from January 2011 till February 2016 and was instrumental in producing several films in the South.

Dhananjayan did lectures and interactions with students[7] of various film institutes across India. He also delivered speeches at IIT, NIT, and other management institutes on film business. Dhananjayan has spoken at various forums and programs on the film business, management, and other topics.

Dhananjayan was the founding Director of BOFTA Film Institute,[1] a pioneer in Film Education in Tamil Nadu where the students learn from the Masters.

Dhananjayan has also made documentaries on legendary filmmakers. His first documentary on Producer-Director-Writer Panchu Arunachalam titled 'A Creator with Midas Touch' which was selected and screened at Indian Panorama of International Film Festival in Goa (2016). His second documentary on legendary director Krishnan–Panju was selected and screened at Mumbai International Film Festival (2017) and received critical acclaim.

Dhananjayan joined hands with lyricist and screenplay writer Madhan Karky in 2023 and started a pioneering initiative of SCRIPTick, a ready-to-shoot script bank to help talented screenwriters.[8]

Film production

At Moser Baer Entertainment Dhananjayan ventured into film production with Shaurya in Hindi and Vellitherai in Tamil. Moser Baer then produced Sankat City and "Hide & Seek" in Hindi, Raman Thediya Seethai, Poo, Abhiyum Naanum,Kanden Kadhalai, Aval Peyar Thamizharasi, and Siddhu +2 with K. Bhagyaraj in Tamil and Kaana Kanmani in Malayalam in two years.

At UTV Motion Pictures (now called Disney-India) Dhananjayan had acquired and also produced films in Tamil and Malayalam. The first film, UTV marketed after his joining was Deiva Thirumagal which was a critically acclaimed movie. He was involved in producing, marketing, and distributing films. Under his supervision UTV co-produced in Tamil Vettai and Vazhakku Enn 18/9 with Director N. Lingusamy's Thirrupathi Brothers, Kalakalappu and Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru with Sundar C's Avni Cinemax, M.Saravanan—Vikram Prabhu' Ivan Veramathiri and Suriya's Anjaan with Director N. Lingusamy's Thirrupathi Brothers, and Naan Sigappu Manithan with Vishal Film Factory. GD had produced under UTV banner Muran, Mugamoodi, Thaandavam,"Settai, Sigaram Thodu, Director S.P.Jhananathan—Arya-Vijay Sethupathi's Purampokku and Director Vishnuvaradhan—Arya's Yatchan in Tamil. In Malayalam UTV had produced Grandmaster and Husbands in Goa. In his last assignment with UTV, Dhananjayan was involved in the marketing of Director Sudha Kongara and Madhavan's Irudhi Suttru in 2016.

Dhananjayan is currently an independent consulting film producer and distributor. In 2018, he produced Tamil films Mr. Chandramouli[9][10] by Thiru (director), starring Karthik (actor), Gautham Karthik, Regina Cassandra, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Santhosh Prathap and others and Kaatrin Mozhi[11][12] by Radha Mohan, starring Jyothika, Vidharth, Lakshmi Manchu, Kabadadaari with Sibi Sathyaraj and Kapatadhaari in Telugu with Sumanth.

Dhananjayan is one of the partners of Infiniti Film Ventures and the company has produced Kodiyil Oruvan, Kolai, and Raththam released in 2023.

Movie distribution

Dhananjayan distributed the film Zero in 2016 under his production banner Blue Ocean Entertainment. In May 2017, he commenced his distribution company Creative Entertainers and Distributors and distributed the successful film Ivan Thanthiran.[13][14] In 2018 GD distributed the film U Turn[15][16] starring Samantha Prabhu in Tamil Nadu, which became a success.

Dhananjayan's recently distributed film is Kolaigaran [17] which was released on June 7, 2019,[18] and "Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban, which got released in 2020. Both films were commercial successes.[19][20][21]

Writing career

Dhananjayan has contributed several articles to the Times of India, The Hindu Tamil, Dinathanthi Next, Deccan Chronicle, Indian Management, DNA, India Today, and other publications.

Dhananjayan has written a book about Tamil cinema titled The Best of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2010,[22][23][24] in English, which was released by Legendary Actor Kamal Haasan on 2 March 2011 in the presence of eminent film makers.[25] Super Star Rajinikanth personally appreciated the book by giving a memento for the fantastic research and writing on Tamil cinema.[26]

Dhananjayan's second book was "Pride of Tamil Cinema", released in 2014.[27] The book was released at Indian Panorama, Goa in 2014.

Dhananjayan's fourth book titled 'The Art and Business of Cinema(ABC)' was released in December 2017 comprising nearly 100 articles that explains the various art and business facets of cinema.[28][29]

Dhananjayan's series of articles in various newspapers won him his second National Award as the Best Critic of the Year 2016.[30][31]

Dhananjayan was also the compiling author of two books by legendary actor, painter, orator and philanthropist Sivakumar titled ‘Paintings of Sivakumar’ and ‘Golden Moments of Sivakumar’.[32][33]

In 2021, served for a brief period as the Head of Tamil content and digital business in SonyLIV.[34] In 2023, Dhananjayan and Madhan Karky started SCRIPTICK, a "script bank" to help aspiring screenwriters better research their scripts.[35][36]

Filmography

As the Producer or Co-Producer at Moser Baer Entertainment

As Associate Producer at Disney-UTV Motion Pictures

As Producer – Creative Entertainers

As Partner Producer – Infiniti Film Ventures

As Co-Producer

As Theatrical Distributor

As Digital Distributor

As the Co-Producer at Studio Green

Documentary films

As Actor

Books

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b "BOFTA".
  2. ^ "GD helps Disney-UTV establish credentials in south business". Box office India. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Guest Leacture by Dhanajayan Govind in SIMSREE". 17 August 2010.
  4. ^ Ravikumar, R. (10 March 2009). "Ten films in Moser Baer's production kitty for 2009". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  5. ^ "Moser Baer joins Duet Movies for film production". The Hindu. 5 September 2007. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  6. ^ "We want to be India's best entertainment company". rediff news. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
  7. ^ "Guest Lecture by Dhananjayan Govind". pragyan.org. NIT Trichy.
  8. ^ "SCRIPTick". DT Next. 22 February 2023.
  9. ^ "G Dhananjayan thanks team Mr Chandramouli". 4 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Mr. Chandramouli to get started- The New Indian Express".
  11. ^ "Watch: Simbu compliments Jyothika's 'sultry hello' in 'Kaatrin Mozhi' trailer". 8 November 2018.
  12. ^ "Jyothika wraps up the shooting of Kaatrin Mozhi. See pics".
  13. ^ "G Dhananjayan gets distribution right of Ivan Thandhiran". 29 May 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  14. ^ "National Award Winner Dhananjayan Govind turns distributor with Ivan Thanthiran". www.moviecrow.com. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  15. ^ "G Dhananjayan to distribute Samantha's U turn in Tamil Nadu". 24 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Makers of Big Budget Films Have a Monopolistic Attitude, Says Producer G Dhananjayan". 13 September 2018.
  17. ^ "Distribution rights of 'Kolaikaaran' have been bagged by a famous production banner!". 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Vijay Antony's Kolaigaran tamilnadu theatrical Rights acquired by Dhananjayan's BOFTA". 17 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Dhananjayan's Creative Entertainers & Distributors acquires all rights to Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban". 28 January 2020.
  20. ^ "G. Dhananjayan acquires an interesting film – News". 29 January 2020.
  21. ^ "'Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban' screened across several theatres in Chennai". 27 November 2020.
  22. ^ a b "The Best of Tamil Cinema, launched in style". Sify. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  23. ^ a b Nadu, Tamil (5 January 2011). "Chronicling the legacy of Tamil cinema". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  24. ^ a b Venkateswaran, N (20 March 2011). "The chronicler of Kollywood". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  25. ^ "THE BEST OF TAMIL CINEMA 1931–2010 released by Dr Kamal". CNN. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  26. ^ "Rajinikanth appreciates Dhananjayan's book". Sify. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  27. ^ a b tabloid!, Mythily Ramachandran, Special to (4 December 2014). "' Pride of Tamil Cinema,' a treat for film buffs". Retrieved 11 February 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ a b "Art and Business of Cinema". Cinema Express.
  29. ^ a b Nathan, Archana (28 January 2018). "What Kollywood needs to do better: 'Don't release six films on the same day, create more heroes'". Scroll.in. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  30. ^ "National Award on Best Critic". pib.nic.in.
  31. ^ "Indian Express List of National Awards". 8 April 2017.
  32. ^ "Paintings of Sivakumar".
  33. ^ "Painting expo".
  34. ^ Jha, Lata (11 June 2021). "SonyLIV appoints G. Dhananjayan as head of Tamil content". mint. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  35. ^ Suganth, M. (11 February 2023). "Madhan Karky and Dhananjayan team up to create a script bank for Kollywood". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  36. ^ Rajaraman, Kaushik (22 February 2023). "G Dhananjayan: Scriptick will bridge the writer-producer gap". DT Next. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  37. ^ Srinivasan, Sudhir (26 March 2016). "The man who made Rajinikanth". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  38. ^ Srinivasan, Sudhir (26 March 2016). "The man who made Rajinikanth". The Hindu.
  39. ^ "Documentary on Panchu Arunachalam". The Hindu.
  40. ^ "Documentary on pioneers of Indian cinema launched". DT Next. 10 April 2017. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  41. ^ "Producer-writer G. Dhananjayan next project on legendary director duo of Krishnan-Panju".
  42. ^ "What Kollywood needs to do better: 'Don't release six films on the same day, create more heroes'".
  43. ^ "62nd National Film Awards announced". Press Information Bureau (Press release). 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  44. ^ "Producer Dhananjayan thanks the press for his National Award". 7 April 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
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