His strength is in his bare hands

Dhanan Chezhiyan K, a man with immense power in his hands has rare feats to his credits

Like the Kannada saying goes "Muruthi Chikadadaru Keerthi…" Dhanan Chezhiyan K, in his early 30s, though short in stature, has mastered the art of breaking/ripping apart hard stuff with bare hands.
Basically a sports person, Cheziyan has been trying unique stunts and tricks to enthrall the audience since his childhood. With a regular marketing job, Cheziyan took to his interest of going one step beyond body building to showcase his talent of performing continuous single handed cart-wheel, break open a coconut by hand, smash and break open tender coconut with the sheer strength of his elbow, break an iron file (instrument used to soften rough edges), wrench and spanner along with his most passionate act of ripping apart the telephone directory into two halves and rolling of cooking tawa. He does all this with no external aid/support and by his bare hands. With no magic trick involved, such stunts captivate the minds of the onlooker.

Finds in daughter his luck
He feels his daughter Priyanka Sree is lucky for him, after whose birth, he has not only gained acclaim but is also continuing his studies in BBA. His ultimate aim is to be featured in the Guinness Book of World Records.  His other hobbies are sports, collecting foreign currencies and reading books. Cheziyan's special stunts are letting a heavy vehicle move on him lying on a needle bed, and the hand lock stunt - locking his hand, people/vehicles pull him on either side at the same time.
With regular shows to entertain children at schools, colleges and church, Cheziyan is on a mission to tell people to take to yoga to improve physical and mental health. He said, "I was following the gym style of body building, but after some time, my body felt heavy and not flexible--it is just artificial, a show! So, I took to yoga under the guidance of Vivekananda yoga centre. After that not only did my body felt light, at the same time, it felt more strong and flexible. Concentration has also improved along with over all health. I was never this fit in my life. Thanks to yoga master Shekar sir, I spend up to two hours each morning practising yoga before practising my routine stunts."

Uses his rare gift for cause
Cheziyan had given a month-long entertainment post-tsunami to cheer up the survivors. He said: "I thought if I can make people in pain to forget their worries for just 30 minutes, it is a big thing, especially loss of family members at tsunami." He donates the funds thus collected to orphanage/children of underprivileged families/old age home and for people suffering from diseases. He wants to spread the message to remain positive and composed even in the face of pain, in order to gain success.
His other motto is to spread the message of "Say no to drugs" through demonstration of stunts. He is of the opinion that money can be obtained through any means but to gain it through proper means is what matters.
He attempted to break a tender coconut while in school and his fancy for stunts took a new turn after watching a Korean master doing stunts on TV. Later on, his taekwondo friend Prakash saw him perform stunts came to be his master in stunts. He said: "In 7th Standard, I used to break coconut with stone, then I got bored so I started to use my hands. Then I tried the same at a stage, which worked as many liked it. With formal training in taekwondo, I entered the showbiz in full form in 1995 and that's how it all started…"

First memorable show at Banaswadi
 "My first show is memorable which I performed with Young Ministry group when I was working as a supervisor at a Banaswadi petrol bunk and in front of Anju Bobby George (athlete) in 2004. I received appreciation for stunts from many people after my yoga master showed the DVD. Felicitation at Rotary got me tears in my eyes. My uncle once saw my show, he felt so happy and gifted me a pair of track suit which I use even now. But the most special moment was when I performed at the school where I studied days before my wedding."
With aim to reach Guinness Book of World Records, he said, "Only one person has broken the record of smashing open 250 coconuts in 8.05 minutes. I want to break that record and make my parents and family proud. I will eventually train my daughter in stunts."

For a good cause
With regular shows to entertain children at schools, colleges and church, Cheziyan is on a mission to tell people to take to yoga to improve physical and mental health. His other motto is to spread the message of "Say no to drugs" through demonstration of stunts.

--MANVITHA