Danny Denzongpa

Danny Denzongpa  

Danny Denzongpa in 2010  
Born Tshering Phintso Denzongpa
25 February 1948 (age 67)[1]
Gangtok, Sikkim, India  
Residence Mumbai, Maharashtra, India  
Occupation Actor  
Years active 1963–present  
Spouse(s) Gawa Denzongpa  
Children Rinzing Denzongpa,
Pema Denzongpa
Danny Denzongpa (born 25 February 1948) is an Indian actor of Nepali descent, working in Bollywood films though he has also appeared in several Nepali, Tamil and Telugu films as well. He has acted in around 190 Hindi films since 1971. He has also starred in some international projects, the most famous being Seven Years in Tibet where he acted alongside Hollywood actor Brad Pitt. In 2003, Denzongpa was awarded the Padma Shree, India's fourth highest civilian honour. Denzongpa is noted for his villainous and character roles.
Contents
  [hide]
1 Early life and education
2 Film and singing career
3 Personal life
4 Honours
5 Awards
6 As director
7 Filmography
8 References
9 External links
Early life and education[edit]
Danny was born to a Buddhist family in the Gangtok, Sikkim[2] (the 22nd state of India since 1975) where he had his early schooling, and thereafter completed his schooling from Birla Vidya Mandir and Scottish Church College, Kolkata, in 1964. Denzongpa's love of horses and horse riding began at an early age, as his family was into horse breeding.
He nursed an ambition to join the Indian Army and won the Best Cadet award from West Bengal and participated in the Republic Day parade. In an interview to The Times of India newspaper, he said that he had qualified for prestigious Armed Forces Medical College, Pune but withdrew admission to join Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. He decided to change his name to a simpler sounding "Danny" as his original name was tough to be pronounced by other students. The name has stuck since.[3]
Film and singing career[edit]
During his early film career, Danny used to practice learning Hindi by talking to the ocean.
He started out with B-grade movies such as B.R. Ishara's Zaroorat in 1971(released in 1972), and had positive role in Mere Apne(1971). He had his first major negative role which he played in B.R.Chopra's 'Dhundh'(1973), a role which showed his power to emote. He got his major break in Gulzar's Mere Apne and later in B R Chopra's Dhund where he played a crippled and frustrated husband. Danny, in the 1970s period was increasingly open to do versatile roles but chose to do more positive roles. It is said Danny was the first choice to play the iconic role of Gabbar Singh in the film Sholay. However since he was away on the shoot of Feroz Khan film Dharmatma, eventually Gabbar's role went to Amjad Khan. He played more positive roles in commercially successful critically acclaimed films like Chor Machaye Shor, 36 Ghante, Fakira, Sangram(1976), Kalicharan, Kala Sona and Devata(1978).
Danny's film career spans more than 4 decades. After his performance in the film Devata (1978) he started getting more significant lengthy roles. He was simultaneously part of big budget movies like Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka, Paapi, Bandish, The Burning Train and Chunoti in negative roles.
In the early 1980 period, he had thought of quitting films. He said in an interview, when asked why he decided to direct a film, "I remember in 80′s I was so fed up of the films I was doing. Those days every villain was a dacoit and I remember going on the sets where an actor called Tiwari was my henchmen and my den was a cave with lanterns. Next day I went on another set and I saw Tiwari again as my henchman, and the same lanterns. I asked myself what was I doing? I left Mumbai. I did lot of trekking and did not do films for a couple of years. I told NN Sippy about a script that I had in mind. and he asked me to direct. I made Phir Wohi Raat with Rajesh Khanna and my then girlfriend Kim." [4]After the success of his directorial debut, he received offers to act as the hero again in the films like Bulundi and Hum Se Badkar Kaun in 1981, which became successful. He played double role in the film Bulundi. However, most of the subsequent films of Danny between 1981-83 were not successful. Hence Danny started accepting supporting roles, often playing a character quite elder to his real age. He played Kumar Gaurav’s father in law in Love Story(1981) and Mithu Chakrabothy’s father in Boxer(1984). He started increasingly getting offers to play the negative character in Hindi films, post success of films Phir Wahi Raat, Jeeo Aur Jeene Do and Dharm Aur Qanoon. He then went on to play the roles of the villain many times since 1984. Since 1984 and through the 1990s, Danny mainly featured as the lead negative character opposite all the leading actors of those times such as Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Vinod Khanna, Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol.
His most applauded negative characters are in Dharm Aur Qanoon (1984) as SP Karan, Kanoon Kya Karega (1984) as Raghuvir Singh, Andar Baahar (1984) as Shera, Oonche Log (1985) as Thakur Maan Singh, Aandhi Toofan (1986), Bhagwaan Dada (1986) as Gangwaa, Agneepath (1990) as Kancha Cheena, Hum (1991) as Bakhtawar, Ghatak: Lethal as Kaatya, Krantiveer (1994) as Chatur Singh , Pukar (2000) as Abhrush and Indian as Shankar Singhania. He was pitted against Pran in the film Sanam Bewafa and 1942:A Love Story. His command over the Hindi language came in handy in films such as Sawan Kumar's Sanam Bewafa and Mukul Anand's Khuda Gawah.
At a time, when he was increasingly doing negative lead roles, Rajkumar Santoshi cast him as the positive role in China Gate(1998). In the early 2000s, Danny gave stellar performances in movies such as Asoka and 16 December (2002). Some of the antihero roles he played were an unscrupulous politician, corrupt policeman, traitor, and mingy landlord.He has also starred in some international projects, the most famous being Seven Years in Tibet where he acted alongside Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.
Danny in the early 2003 decided to take a break from films as he wanted to do different but strong roles, even if it was a negative character. He appeared in only 10 films between 2003-2009.
He is an accomplished singer having sung with Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle, three stalwarts of Indian music. He has released Nepalese songs and has sung for Nepalese movies. His two most famous songs recorded in the 1970s but still hit are "Chiso Chiso Hawama" ("In the cool air") and "Manko kura lai bandhi narakha..."("Do not keep the words of the heart tied"). He is also a painter, a writer and a sculptor.
He wrote and acted in the Nepali film Saino which was super hit. His nephew Ugyen Chhopel directed it. He has sung its title song and a duet with Deepa Narayan, wife of Udit Narayan. Later, this film was made in Hindi as Ajnabi as a telefilm for Doordarshan. He has sung a Nepali duet with Asha Bhosle, "Aage aage topai ko gola pachhi pachhi machinegun barara". R.D.Burman composed the song -Sang Mere Nikle The Sajan from the film Phir Wohi Raat - after getting inspired from melody of the Nepali folk song sung by Danny 'Aage Aage Topaiko Gola'. His all-Nepali songs are hits and people like them even today: "Hiun vanda chiso, Aago vanda taato..." ("Colder than snow, hotter than fire.."), "Naachana hoi maichyan hau nachana"' ("Dance o lovely girl"), "Jhimkai deu pareli manma bajchha mitho murali..." ("Please blink your eyes and sweet sound of flute plays in the heart), "Rato rani phulay ghai sanja ma "etc. are his few hit numbers. He gained popularity as a singer in the period 1975-1990 especially in places like Nepal, Darjeeling, Sikkim and Assam.
He then made a strong comeback as the villain with his role in Enthiran.He made his debut in the Tamil films with Enthiran, co-starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai in the leads. Denzongpa played the antagonist role of Bohra, a prominent scientist who transforms Chitti (played by Rajinikanth) into an evil robot. He then started playing villain in big budget movies like Jai Ho (2014) co-starring Salman Khan, Bang Bang (2014) co-starring Hrithik Roshan.
He has recently played the role of a coordinator, Feroz Khan in the 2015 hit Baby co-starring Akshay Kumar.
Personal life[edit]
Danny, who married Gawa Denzongpa, a Sikkimese princess and niece of the last chogyal from her hometown of Gangtok, currently resides in Juhu in Mumbai. He has a relationship with actress Kim Yashpal in 80's whom he has work with his film as a leading actor. Since the 2003, he has become more selective of the roles he plays.In the movies he chooses, he works on his own terms. His brother owns a bouj and beer factory in Melli, Sikkim.
Honours[edit]

Year From Award Won/Honored  
2003 Government of India Padma Shri Honoured
Awards[edit]

Year From Award Film Won  
1979 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award Devata No  
1985 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award Kanoon Kya Karega No  
1990 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award Agneepath No  
1992 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award Sanam Bewafa Yes  
1992 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Villain Award Hum No  
1994 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award Khuda Gawah Yes  
1995 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Villain Award Krantiveer No  
1995 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Villain Award Vijaypath No  
1996 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Villain Award Barsaat No  
1997 Filmfare Awards Filmfare Best Villain Award Ghatak No
As director[edit]

Year Film Director  
1980 Phir Wahi Raat Yes  
Unknown Ram Yes  
  This section requires expansion.(March 2014)
Filmography[edit]

  This section requires expansion.(March 2014)  
Year Film Role/Notes  
2015 Baby Firoz  
2014 Bang Bang! Omar Zafar  
2014 Jai Ho Home Minister Dashrat Singh  
2013 Boss Big Boss (Mentor of Boss-Akshay Kumar)  
2010 Enthiran Professor Bohra (Tamil)  
2009 Acid Factory Om  
2008 Luck Tamang  
2008 Karzzzz Kabira  
2008 Chamku Baba  
2007 Big Brother police commissiner kulkarni  
2007 Hattrick David Anna  
2007 Frozen Karma  
2004 Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo Colonel Ashfaque Khan  
2004 Shikaar Darshan Damania  
2003 Sandhya  
2003 Ek Hindustani Special Appearance  
2002 Soch Nautiyal  
2002 Ab Ke Baras CBI Officer Sikander Baksh  
2002 16 December Vir Vijay Singh  
2002 Yeh Mohabbat Hai Aman Khan  
2001 Moksha Bachelor Simon  
2001 Indian Shankar Singhania  
2001 Lajja Gajendra  
2001 Aśoka Virat  
2001 Pukar Abhrush  
2001 Officer Pratap Rai/Dushyant Singh  
2000 Tune Mera Dil Le Liya  
1999 Silsila Hai Pyar Ka Jabhal Khargoshi  
1999 Dahek: A Burning Passion Jabbar Bahkshi  
1999 Kohram Minister Virbhadra Singh  
1998 Zulm O Situm Sikander  
1998 Vinashak - Destroyer Jailer Lankeshwar  
1998 China Gate Maj. Ranjir Singh Gurung  
1997 Udaan Mr. Rana  
1997 Dhaal: The Battle of Law Against Law Advocate Diwan  
1997 Himalay Putra Rana  
1996 Ghatak: Lethal Katya  
1996 Rajkumar  
1996 Army Naagraj  
1996 Shastra Babu  
1996 Army .nagraj  
1995 Barsaat (1995 film) ACP Neghi  
1995 Sarhad: The Border of Crime  
1994 Vijaypath Dilawar Singh  
1994 Chauraha Baba Bhatti  
1994 Krantiveer Chatursingh  
1994 Mohabbat Ki Arzoo Jagpal Singh alias Jaggu dada  
1993 1942: A Love Story  
1993 Dhartiputra Major Hisht  
1993 Gurudev Khakan  
1993 Prateeksha Dinesh Khanna  
1993 Sangram Madhu's father  
1993 Tahqiqaat Bhanu Pratap  
1992 Drohi (Antham - Telugu) J.P. Sethi (Raghav's boss)  
1992 Balwaan Bhaiji  
1992 Khule-Aam Insp. Uday Singh/Insp. Ranvir Singh Rathod  
1992 Khuda Gawah Khuda Baksh  
1991 Lakshmanrekha Birju  
1991 Vishnu-Devaa Thakur Shamsher Singh/Samppat  
1991 Hum Bakhtawar  
1991 Bahadur Bahadur (Bengali)  
1991 Sanam Bewafa Sher Khan  
1991 First Love Letter Thakur Ajit Singh  
1991 Yodha Daaga/Justice Dharmesh Agnihotri  
1990 Agneepath Kancha Cheena  
1990 Pyaar Ke Naam Qurban Prince Yeshwant Singh  
1990 Chingariyan  
1990 Jagira  
1990 Shandaar Dhaga  
1990 Shesh Naag  
1989 Shehzaade (uncredited) Thakur Roshan Singh  
1989 Jung Baaz Mahakal  
1989 Kasam Suhaag Ki  
1989 Galiyon Ka Badshah Inspector Vijay  
1989 Khoj  
1989 Saaya  
1989 Ustad  
1988 Commando Ninja  
1988 Shoorveer Shankar  
1988 Ek Hi Maqsad Inspector. Deepak  
1988 Mardon Wali Baat Raja Sunder Singh  
1988 Gunahon Ka Faisla  
1988 Janam Janam  
1988 Jeete Hain Shaan Se J.P.  
1988 Mera Shikar  
1988 Paap Ki Duniya Pasha  
1988 Yateem Girivar Prasad Mathur  
1987 Saino (Nepali Film)  
1987 Itihaas  
1987 Faqir Badshah  
1987 Aag Hi Aag Daulat Singh/Choudhury  
1987 Deewana Tere Naam Ka Shambhu  
1986 Chambal Ka Badshah Sultan  
1986 Bhagwan Dada Shambu Dada  
1986 Allah Rakha  
1985 Maha Shaktiman aka Maharudra (India: Bengali title)  
1985 Yudh Gama Maating/Mr. Chinoy  
1985 Jawaab Seth. Jagmohan  
1985 Aandhi Toofan  
1985 Aitbaar Inspector Barua  
1985 Oonche Log Thakur Maan Singh  
1985 Patthar Dil Jung Bahadur  
1984 Andar Baahar Shera  
1984 Farishta  
1984 Boxer Dharma  
1984 Jagir Danny  
1984 Kanoon Kya Karega  
1984 Manzil Manzil Gautam (Pahadi Baba)  
1984 Mera Dost Mera Dushman  
1984 Pyar Jhukta Nahin  
1983 Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye  
1983 Lovers  
1983 Ganga Meri Maa  
1983 Andha Kanoon Akhbar Ali  
1982 Raj Mahal  
1982 Kachche Heere Arjun  
1982 Prahari (Bengali)  
1981 Love Story Ram Dogra  
1980 Chunaoti  
1980 Kali Ghata Kishore  
1980 Abdullah  
1980 Bandish Kapil Kumar  
1980 Bulundi Lobo  
1980 The Burning Train  
1980 Choron Ki Baraat  
1980 Phir Wahi Raat Ashok  
1979 Griha Pravesh Danny  
1979 Aaj Ki Dhara Danny  
1979 Lahu Ke Do Rang  
1978 Lal Kuthi (Bengali)  
1978 Devata Inspector Lawrence  
1978 Naya Daur  
1977 Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka Vikram (Jamunadas' son)  
1977 Abhi To Jee Lein Danny  
1977 Chandi Sona  
1977 Khel Khilari Ka  
1977 Mit Jayenge Mitane Wale  
1977 Paapi Abdul  
1976 Fakira Munna/Ajay/Toofan  
1976 Kalicharan  
1976 Laila Majnu Prince Bahksh  
1976 Sangram Salim/Altaf  
1975 Aakhri Dao Robert  
1975 Apne Rang Hazaar  
1975 Kala Sona  
1975 Ponga Pandit Rocky  
1975 Raftaar  
1975 Rani Aur Lalpari  
1975 Zorro  
1974 Chor Machaye Shor  
1974 36 Ghante Dilawar Khan  
1974 Khote Sikkay Danny  
1973 Dhund Thakur Ranjit Singh (crippled husband)  
1973 Khoon Khoon remake of Dirty Harry (English)  
1972 Milap  
1972 Rakhi Aur Hathkadi Raja  
1972 Yeh Gulistan Hamara  
1971 Mere Apne Sanju  
1971 Zaroorat