Dayal Padmanabhan Biography

Dayal Padmanabhan is an Indian film director and producer, mainly working in Kannada cinema. Many of his films have been romantic/comedy thrillers, most notably his comedy-thriller Circus.

Personal Life

Dayal Padmanabhan hails from Villupuram town (Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu). His dad Padmanabhan was an electrician in Tamil Nadu electricity board and mother Radha Padmanabhan was a house wife till he lost his father in his early age. Then, his mother continued to work as a sweeper in Tamil Nadu electricity board.

They were from a poor background but that didn't deter his passion for acting in movies. He has participated in many extra-curricular activities while schooling and proved himself as a young talent. His role model was Tamil actor Murali. He wished to become an actor like him but destiny made him a writer, producer and director in Kannada films.

He completed his Diploma in Civil Engineering from Muthiah polytechnic, Chidambaram. Later, he finished his B.E from the famous B. M. Sreenivasaiah College of Engineering, Bangalore. He worked in Indian Institute of Science (IISC) (1988 to 2002) before entering Kannada films in the year 2000.

He is indebted to S. Naga from the Tamil film industry and Hamsalekha, Upendra, S. Mahendar, Actress Shruthi and Madan Mallu from the Kannada film industry for helping him to gain a foothold in the movie industry. He married Meena Varadaraj and has two kids Meera Chitirapaavai and Taragan.

Film Career As A Writer

Dayal Padmanabhan entered the Kannada industry as a writer in the year 2000. His first movie as a writer was Om Ganesh starring "Dialogue King" Sai Kumar and directed by "Thriller" Manju. From there on, he went on to write for many films including Hudugigage, H20, Gattimela, etc. He has written the story for most of his movies except OK Saar OK and Sakha Sakhi.

As A Director

He later on directed his first film OK saar OK in the year 2003 and went on to direct six more Kannada films, including the hit Baa Baro Rasika, Circus and Shriharikathe. His dream project was Circus starring Golden star Ganesh  He has also starred in Gaalipata, where he played a mute character called "Dracula" that was widely appreciated by the public.

He also turned to production with this film, where he was the executive producer. He has also produced Circus  and Co-produced Shriharikathe under his own production house D PICTURES. He believes the turning point of his film career came with the movie Gaalipata.