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Danny Denzongpa | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Danny Denzongpa in 2015 | |
| Born | Tsering Phuntsok Denzongpa (1948-02-25)25 February 1948 (age 77)[1] |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1971–present |
| Works | Filmography |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Padma Shri (2003) |
Danny Denzongpa (bornTsering Phuntsok Denzongpa; 25 February 1948) is an Indian actor, playback singer, film director, and liquor baron of Sikkimese descent.[3] His film career was primarily inHindi, but also occasionally inBengali,Nepali, andTamil films. In a career spanning five decades, has acted in over 190 films since 1971. In 2003, Denzongpa was awarded thePadma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour.[4]
He has also starred in some international films, the most famous beingSeven Years in Tibet where he appeared alongsideBrad Pitt. His best known villainous roles are inDhund,36 Ghante,Bandish,Jeeo Aur Jeene Do,Pyar Jhukta Nahin,Aandhi-Toofan,Agneepath,Hum,Krantiveer,Indian andEnthiran whereas his best known positive roles were inChor Machaye Shor,Fakira,Kalicharan,Devata,Bulundi,Adhikar,Aag Hi Aag andChina Gate. His directorial venturePhir Wahi Raat was considered among the top five best horror suspense films of Hindi Cinema.[5]
Born as Tshering Phintso Denzongpa on 25 February 1948 to aBhutia family inYuksom,Sikkim,[6][2] he did his schooling inBirla Vidya Mandir,Nainital and thereafter completed college coursework atSt Joseph's College, Darjeeling, in 1964.[7] Denzongpa's love of horses and horse-riding began at an early age, as his family was into horse breeding. He is also a painter, a writer and a sculptor.
He had an ambition to join theIndian Army and won the Best Cadet award fromWest Bengal and participated in theRepublic Day parade. In an interview toThe Times of India newspaper, he said that he had qualified for theArmed Forces Medical College, Pune, but withdrew admission to join theFilm and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune.[6] He decided to change his name to a simpler sounding "Danny", on recommendation from his then-classmateJaya Bhaduri, as his original name of Tshering Phintso Denzongpa was considered difficult for some to pronounce.[8][9] His son Rinzing Denzongpa made his acting debut in the action filmSquad.[10]
He started out with B.R. Ishara'sZaroorat in 1971 (released in 1972), which was his debut film. He got his major break in Gulzar'sMere Apne (1971), where he had a positive role. He first played an antagonist in B.R.Chopra'sDhundh (1973), where he played the role of a cripple and frustrated husband.
He played the second lead hero and had more positive roles in commercially successful critically acclaimed films in the seventies, such asChor Machaye Shor,36 Ghante,Fakira,Kalicharan,Kaala Sona andDevata. After his performance in the filmDevata, he started getting more significant lengthy roles. He was simultaneously part of big budget films such asAashiq Hoon Baharon Ka,Paapi,Bandish,The Burning Train andChunoti in negative roles.
In the early 1980s period, he had thought of quitting films. He said in an interview, when asked why he decided to direct a film, "I remember in 80s 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 madePhir Wohi Raat withRajesh Khanna and my then girlfriend Kim."[11] After the success of his directorial debut, he received offers to act as the hero again in the films such asBulundi andHum Se Badkar Kaun in 1981, which became successful. He played a double role in the filmBulundi. However, most subsequent films between 1981 and 1983 were not successful. He was disappointed with the failure of his recently released filmAbhi Toh Jee Ley, which had popular songs such as "Tu Laali Hai Saveriwali". Hence, Danny started accepting supporting roles, often playing a character quite older than his real age. He played Kumar Gaurav's father-in-law inLove Story (1981) andMithun Chakraborty's father inBoxer (1984).
He started getting more frequent offers to play the negative character in Hindi films, after the success of the filmsPhir Wahi Raat,Jeeo Aur Jeene Do andDharm Aur Qanoon. He then went on to play the role of villain many times since 1984. From 1984 and through the 1990s, Danny mainly was featured as the lead negative character opposite all the leading actors of that time such asRajesh Khanna,Dharmendra,Jeetendra,Mithun Chakraborty,Vinod Khanna,Anil Kapoor andSunny Deol. He stated in an interview; "Had it not been that I had not done the four special negative roles – withRajesh Khanna, in the lead –Phir Wohi Raat,Dharm Aur Qanoon,Bandish andAashiq Hoon Baharon Ka, people would not have considered me for villainous roles. InAdhikar I had positive role. He holds special place in my heart as he recognized and stood by me in my tough times which was early eighties."
His most applauded negative characters are inBandish (1980) as Kapil Kumar,Phir Wahi Raat as "Ashok",Dharm Aur Qanoon (1984), as SP "Kader",Kanoon Kya Karega (1984), as "Raghuvir Singh",Andar Baahar (1984), as "Shera",Oonche Log (1985), as "Thakur Maan Singh",Aandhi Toofan (1986), as "Balbir"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" andIndian, as "Shankar Singhania". He was pitted againstPran in the filmSanam Bewafa, Paap Ki Duniya, Gurudev and1942: A Love Story. His command over the Urdu language came in handy in films such as Sawan Kumar'sSanam Bewafa and Mukul Anand'sKhuda Gawah.
At one time, when he was increasingly doing negative lead roles,Rajkumar Santoshi cast him as the positive role inChina Gate. In the early 2000s, Denzongpa appeared in films such asAsoka and16 December. Some of the antihero roles he played included an unscrupulous politician, corrupt policeman, traitor, and stingy landlord. He has also starred in some international films, the most famous beingSeven Years in Tibet, where he appeared.
In early 2003 Denzongpa 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 and 2009.
He then made a strong comeback as the villain with his role inEnthiran. He made his debut inTamil films withEnthiran, co-starringRajinikanth andAishwarya 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 villains in big budget movies such asJai Ho (2014), co-starringSalman Khan andBang Bang (2014), co-starringHrithik Roshan.
He has recently played the role of a coordinator, "Feroz Khan" in the 2015 hitBaby co-starringAkshay Kumar. He reprised his role of "Feroz Khan" in the film's spin-off prequelNaam Shabana.
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He is an accomplished singer, having sung withKishore Kumar,Lata Mangeshkar,Mohammed Rafi andAsha Bhosle, the stalwarts of Indian music.
He was first given a chance to sing byS.D. Burman in the filmYeh Gulistan Hamara in 1972. Denzongpa sang a duet with Lata Mangeshkar.[9]
Danny Denzongpa has quoted on S.D. Burman, "My dream to be a playback singer in films came with the number, 'Mera Naam Aao' in 'Yeh Gulistan Hamara' (1972). The maestro that he was, S.D. Burman recognised my singing abilities and conducted the daring experiment of making me sing my first duet with Lata Mangeshkar. He advised me to produce a comic effect yet maintain melody whilst singing. The song was a raging hit." This was told to Ranjan Das Gupta in 'The Hindu' on 8 January 2012.
He has released Nepalese songs, and has sung forNepalese movies. His two most famous songs recorded in the 1970s but still popular are "Chiso Chiso Hawama" ("In the cool air") and "Manko kura lai bandhi narakha... ("Do not keep the words of the heart tied").
He sang the duet "Suno Suno Kasam Se" inKaala Sona withAsha Bhosle[9] and sang "Mujhe Doston Tum Gale Lagaa Lo" withMohammed Rafi,Asha Bhosle and the duet song "Botal Khaali Hone To Do" withKishore Kumar in the 1978 filmNaya Daur – all of which were composed byR.D. Burman.
"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), "Raatko rani phulay jhain sanjhama", "Pani Hai Paryo Jhyaure" etc. are some of his few hit numbers. He gained popularity as a singer in the period 1975–1990 especially inNepal and parts ofIndia likeDarjeeling, Sikkim andAssam.
He has sung a Nepali duet withAsha Bhosle, "Aage aage topai ko gola pachhi pachhi machinegun barara" in 1976. This song was shown by Danny toRajesh Khanna who liked the song tremendously. Then Rajesh Khanna requested R.D. Burman to compose the song – "Sang Mere Nikle The Sajan" from the 1981 film Phir Wohi Raat, which was directed by Danny himself – after getting inspired by the melody of the Nepali folk song sung by Danny – "Aage Aage Topaiko Gola". R. D. Burman changed the interludes and tunes of stanzas but retained the tune at the beginning.
Denzongpa wrote and acted in theNepali filmSaino. His nephew Ugyen Chhopel directed it. He has sung its title song and a duet with Deepa Narayan, wife ofUdit Narayan. Later, this film was made in Hindi asBandhu (1992) by Chopel himself and loosely adapted as the Indian television seriesAjnabi forDoordarshan by Denzongpa.
Business
Danny Denzongpa launchedYuksom Breweries in Sikkim in 1987. The company quickly advanced to become the number one brewery in Northeast India.[12]
| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Filmfare Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Devata | Nominated |
| 1985 | Kanoon Kya Karega | Nominated | ||
| 1992 | Sanam Bewafa | Won | ||
| Best Performance in a Negative Role | Hum | Nominated | ||
| 1993 | Best Supporting Actor | Khuda Gawah | Won | |
| 1995 | Best Performance in a Negative Role | Krantiveer | Nominated | |
| Vijaypath | Nominated | |||
| 1996 | Barsaat | Nominated | ||
| 1997 | Ghatak: Lethal | Nominated |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
