G. Dhananjayan

G. Dhananjayan (GD) is a Two-times National Award winner, film producer, distributor, columnist, author of four books on Indian films and founder-director 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), Kodiyil_Oruvan (2021) and many other films.

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

Education and work
Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Special Mention Certificate for “Pride of Tamil Cinema” (1931–2013) in the category of Best Writing on Cinema to the Author, Shri G. Dhananjayan, at the 62nd National Film Awards Function

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.

GD 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 competition with unauthorized copies of DVDs typically sold for very low prices.[6]

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

GD spends considerable time interacting with students[7] of various Film Institutes across India. He also delivered speeches at IIT, NIT, and other management institutes on film business. GD is invited to various forums and programs to speak on the film business, management, and many other topics.

GD was the founding Director of BOFTA Film Institute,[8] a pioneer in Film Education in Tamil Nadu where the students learn from the Masters. The Institute, which commenced its operation in 2015 is rated as one of the best Film Institutes in Tamil Nadu for its quality of education. The Master Classes conducted by GD with several Filmmakers and Actors has set a benchmark and the videos remain popular in YouTube.

GD 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, Goa (2016) received widespread appreciation. His second documentary on legendary director Krishnan–Panju was selected and screened at Mumbai International Film Festival (2017) and received critical acclaim.

GD 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.[9]

GD is regularly interviewed by many popular YouTube channels wherein he shares his views openly and objectively. His interviews are pretty popular among people interested in the film business.

Movie production

At Moser Baer Entertainment GD 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) GD 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, GD was involved in the marketing of Director Sudha Kongara and Madhavan's “Irudhi Suttru" in 2016.

GD is currently an independent consulting film producer and distributor. In 2018 he produced Tamil films Mr. Chandramouli[10][11] by Thiru (director), starring Karthik (actor), Gautham Karthik, Regina Cassandra, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Santhosh Prathap and others and Kaatrin Mozhi[12][13] by Radha Mohan, starring Jyothika, Vidharth, Lakshmi Manchu, Kabadadaari with Sibi_Sathyaraj and Kapatadhaari in Telugu with Sumanth.

GD is one of the Partners of the newly created company Infiniti Film Ventures in 2019 and the company has produced Kodiyil_Oruvan, Kolai_(film), and Ratham released till 2023.

GD is known for his full involvement while producing the film with his director and observes the way the movie is molded in shape without setbacks. Director Cheran once mentioned in an interview that producers should be like GD by visiting the shooting spots and being a part of the production process so that they will know what hurdles the film crew is facing while making a movie.

Movie Distribution

GD 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".[14][15] In 2018 GD distributed the film U Turn[16][17] starring Samantha Prabhu in Tamil Nadu, which became a success.

GD's recently distributed film is "Kolaigaran" [18] which was released on June 7, 2019,[19] and "Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban" which got released on November 27, 2020. Both films were commercial successes.[20][21][22]

Writing career

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

GD has written a book about Tamil cinema titled The Best of Tamil Cinema: 1931 to 2010,[23][24][25] in English, which was released by Legendary Actor Kamal Haasan on 2 March 2011 in the presence of eminent film makers.[26] Super Star Rajinikanth personally appreciated the book by giving a memento for the fantastic research and writing on Tamil cinema.[27] The book has reached out to many universities worldwide and has become a reference point on Tamil cinema for many interested foreigners to know about Tamil cinema.

GD's second book was "Pride of Tamil Cinema", released in 2014.[28] The book was released at Indian Panorama, Goa in 2014 and it went on to win the National Award (Special Mention) for Best Writing on Cinema for the year 2014. The book is highly appreciated by the film industry for the impeccable documentation of the films.

GD's monthly column in 'Galatta Cinema' for two years was widely read by eminent personalities in South Indian Cinema and was appreciated for his professional contribution to South Cinema. His article series in the Tamil newspaper 'The Hindu' was widely read and appreciated for the valuable contribution he is doing by enlightening the readers on the happenings in Tamil cinema and the changes required. His collection of Tamil articles was published by 'The Hindu' under the title ‘Vellithirayin Vetri Manthirangal’ which is today one of the best sellers from their publication.

GD'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. The collection of articles in this book is a must-read for interested filmmakers to understand the challenges in the industry and what to keep in mind to deliver a film successfully.[29][30]

GD's series of articles in various newspapers won him his second National Award as the Best Critic of the Year 2016.[31][32]

GD 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’.[33][34]

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

Documentary films

As Actor

Books

Awards

References
  1. "BOFTA".
  2. "GD helps Disney-UTV establish credentials in south business". Box office India. 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. "BOFTA".
  9. "SCRIPTick".
  10. "G Dhananjayan thanks team Mr Chandramouli". 4 July 2018.
  11. "Mr. Chandramouli to get started- The New Indian Express".
  12. "Watch: Simbu compliments Jyothika's 'sultry hello' in 'Kaatrin Mozhi' trailer". 8 November 2018.
  13. "Jyothika wraps up the shooting of Kaatrin Mozhi. See pics".
  14. "G Dhananjayan gets distribution right of Ivan Thandhiran". 29 May 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  15. "National Award Winner Dhananjayan Govind turns distributor with Ivan Thanthiran". www.moviecrow.com. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  16. "G Dhananjayan to distribute Samantha's U turn in Tamil Nadu". 24 August 2018.
  17. "Makers of Big Budget Films Have a Monopolistic Attitude, Says Producer G Dhananjayan". 13 September 2018.
  18. "Distribution rights of 'Kolaikaaran' have been bagged by a famous production banner!". 17 April 2019.
  19. "Vijay Antony's Kolaigaran tamilnadu theatrical Rights acquired by Dhananjayan's BOFTA". 17 April 2019.
  20. "Dhananjayan's Creative Entertainers & Distributors acquires all rights to Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban". 28 January 2020.
  21. "G. Dhananjayan acquires an interesting film – News". 29 January 2020.
  22. "'Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban' screened across several theatres in Chennai". 27 November 2020.
  23. "The Best of Tamil Cinema, launched in style". sify.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  24. 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.
  25. 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.
  26. "THE BEST OF TAMIL CINEMA 1931–2010 released by Dr Kamal". CNN. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  27. "Rajinikanth appreciates Dhananjayan's book". sify.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  28. 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)
  29. "Art and Business of Cinema". Cinema Express.
  30. 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.
  31. "National Award on Best Critic". pib.nic.in.
  32. "Indian Express List of National Awards". 8 April 2017.
  33. "Paitings of Sivakumar".
  34. "Painting expo".
  35. Jha, Lata (11 June 2021). "SonyLIV appoints G. Dhananjayan as head of Tamil content". mint. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  36. Suganth, M. "Madhan Karky and Dhananjayan team up to create a script bank for Kollywood". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  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".
  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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