Denzil Smith
Smith inIFFI2006
Born	Denzil Leonard Smith (1960-11-06)6 November 1960 (age 65) Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
Other names	Denzil L Smith, Denzel Smith
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1988–present
Spouse	Carissa Hickling
Relatives	Cheryl Roy-Smith (sister) Lionel Smith (brother)

Denzil Leonard Smith (born 6 November 1960) is an Indian film and stage actor and producer. Born toAnglo-Indian parents in Mumbai, he is known for his stage and screen roles as a character actor. Smith has acted in over 50 plays and 60 films.^[1]

His film credits includeTenet (2020),Viceroy's House (2017),Brahman Naman (2016),The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015),The Lunchbox (2013),The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011),Frozen (2007) andPaap (2003).

His notable television roles include Netflix'sDelhi Crime (2019), ITV'sBeecham House (2019), Amazon Prime's sitcomMind the Malhotras (2019) andP.O.W. - Bandi Yuddh Ke (2016–2017) on Star Plus.

He has a long-standing association with both Motley Productions forWaiting for Godot andThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and PrimeTime Theatre forGuahar,August: Osage County andSammy. Notable international productions includeMerchants of Bollywood (2007–2010) andLife of Buddha (2014).

Smith was born into anAnglo-Indian family inMumbai,Maharashtra to Benjamin John Smith and Kathleen (Katsy) Maude Shepherd. He has an older sister Cheryl Roy-Smith, and younger brother Lionel Smith. Smith's father was a civil servant with theGovernment of India, and possessed a deep love for music and the arts.^[2] It was through him that Denzil was first exposed to music and theatre.

Smith's father played theaccordion,piano,violin andukulele. A talented singer, Benjamin was granted a leave of absence to represent India as part of the classical cappellaParanjoti Academy Choir for an extended tour ofEurope in the 1960s. His father died suddenly when Smith was 11.^[2]

Smith completed his schooling atSt Andrews inBandra, and studied English literature at theUniversity of Mumbai.^[3]

Smith began his professional career as a film executive under Indian adman and actor,Alyque Padamsee, who was then CEO of the advertising agency Lintas.^[4] In 1988, Smith quit his corporate career to focus on stage acting. He trained in voice at theNational Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, and was guided by Dr. Ashok Ranade and Pratap Sharma.^[5]

A pivotal play early in his theatrical career wasPearl Padamsee'sLes Liaisons Dangereuse where he first worked withNaseeruddin Shah andRatna Pathak. Shortly after this play, he became a member of Shah's Motley Productions – a theatre group formed by Naseeruddin Shah,Tom Alter andBenjamin Gilani. Smith played the role of Lucky inSamuel Beckett'sWaiting for Godot with Shah, Gilani, and Kenneth Desai.^[6] He then went on to doHerman Wouk'sThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,Beckett'sEndgame,The Odd Couple and several other productions.^[7] Smith then worked withSatyadev Dubey in Hindi productions such asSambogh Se Sanyas Tak.

By 1998, he also began working extensively withLilette Dubey's PrimeTime Theatre in productions such asOn a Muggy Night in Mumbai,^[8]Zenkatha,^[9]Sammy,^[10]August: Osage County^[11] and "Gauhar" about the life ofGauhar Jaan.^[12] These plays toured bothIndia and various cities inNorth America, UK and Europe, South-EastAsia andAustralia.

Smith also played key roles in numerous other productions such asJawaharlal Nehru inLetters to a Daughter from Prison (directed byVijaya Mehta and based on the 1984 publication of Nehru's letters),^[13] Jesus inJesus Christ Superstar inToronto,Canada, Vali and Vibishan inThe Legend of Ram, Judge Brack inHedda Gabler,^[14] and the solo performer in four monologues written and directed by Zubin Driver inMumbai vs Mumbai.^[15]

In 2007, Smith joined All Star Artists for theBroadway style musical productionThe Merchants of Bollywood – written and directed by Toby Gough and choreographed byVaibhavi Merchant – in the lead role of the grandfather, Shantilal, and then later a double role that of "a splendidly-mustachioed narrator" and the sleazy Bollywood director Tony Bakshi.^[16] There were 600 shows between 2007 and 2009 in the UK, Europe andMalaysia.^[17] and he reprised his role for a run in the UK^[18] and Lebanon in 2016. In 2017, Smith re-joined director Toby Gough, choreographer Shruti Merchant^[19] and team as the voice of Raj Pakoda in the light-hearted dance musicalTaj Express.^[20]

In 2020, along withSonali Kulkarni andShernaz Patel, he led the cast in the role of Superintendent Daniel D'Mello in the classic WhodunnitThe Mirror Crack'd byAgatha Christie, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff in an Indian version by Ayeesha Menon, directed by the British directorMelly Still and produced by international theatre producerPádraig Cusack, staged at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre at theNational Centre for the Performing Arts (India) in Mumbai.

In addition to his acting career, Smith also regularly curates theatre programming atCelebrate Bandra.^[21]

Smith has worked in a range of independent,Bollywood and international film productions. One of Smith's early films wasMango Soufflé (2002), an adaptation of Mahesh Dattani's successful English stage playOn a Muggy Night in Mumbai, which was centered around the lives of gay men in Mumbai. The film starringAtul Kulkarni, Rinkie Khanna, Heeba Shah and Ankur Vikal, was promoted as "first gay male film from India."^[22]

He is known for roles such as the Tibetan monk Lama Norbu inPaap (2003), directed byPooja Bhatt and starringJohn Abraham, and as Tenzing in the filmFrozen (2007), based inLeh andLadakh. Among the many independent films he has worked in areShobhayatra (2004), where he playedJawaharlal Nehru,The Memsahib (2006),Mumbai Salsa (2007),Chase (2010),Lamhaa (2010),Impatient Vivek (2011),Tripura (2011),Ajita Suchitra Veera'sBallad of Rustom (2012),John Day (2013), andDad... Hold My Hand! (2015). In 2017, Smith played the role of the Principal in the Marathi filmManjha (2017), directed by Jatin Wagle.^[23] Recent films include Ritesh Batra'sPhotograph, which premiered atSundance Film Festival in February 2019.^[24][25]

He's also been featured in many Bollywood films such asEk Ajnabee (2005) withArjun Rampal,Amitabh Bachchan and Parizaad Zorabian,Zid (2014) andBombay Velvet (2015) directed byAnurag Kashyap withAnushka Sharma andRanbir Kapoor,^[26][27][28]Kabir Khan'sPhantom (2015) withSaif Ali Khan andKatrina Kaif.^[29] Smith appeared in the crime dramaBaazaar (2018), as the Manipuri militant leader in Disney'sJagga Jasoos (2018),^[30] the emergency period action filmBaadshaho (2017),^[31] comedyHappy Phirr Bhag Jayegi (2018)^[32] and as a detective in the mystery thrillerBadla directed bySujoy Ghosh and starringAmitabh Bachchan andTaapsee Pannu.^[33] Upcoming work includesBell Bottom (2021 film) withAkshay Kumar, which was filmed in Scotland under COVID restrictions^[34] and Penthouse withBobby Deol.^[35]

Smith has featured in several international productions that have achieved both critical and commercial success –One Night with the King (2007) withOmar Sharif andPeter O’Toole,^[36]The Lunchbox (2013) withIrrfan Khan,^[37]The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) andThe Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) withJudi Dench,Maggie Smith,Dev Patel,Bill Nighy and directed byJohn Madden^[38] andBrahman Naman (2016), aNetflix original release^[39] sex comedy, directed byQaushiq Mukherjee, written byNaman Ramachandran^[40] withShashank Arora.^[41]

Smith's most prominent international films includeChristopher Nolan'sTenet withJohn David Washington andRobert Pattinson, where Smith plays Sanjay Singh^[42] husband of arms dealer played byDimple Kapadia andGurinder Chadha'sViceroy's House on India's partition in 1947 in which he plays the role ofMuhammad Ali Jinnah.^[43][44]

Smith has also starred in Thalapathy Vijay'sLeo (2023 Indian film) as a judge.^[45]

Smith has acted in many Indian television serials as well as international tele-series. Prominent ones include ITV'sBeecham House^[46] which isGurinder Chadha's Indian period piece, Netflix'sDelhi Crime^[47] directed byRichie Mehta on the Nirbhaya gang rape tragedy, renewed for Season 2.^[48] Smith also played the therapist in Amazon Prime's sitcomMind the Malhotras (2019)^[49] andP.O.W. - Bandi Yuddh Ke (2016–2017) onStar Plus for which he won 2017Indian Television Academy Awards Best Actor in a Negative Role.^[50] In 2019,Netflix andBBC cast Smith to play the father of serial killer Charles Sobhraj in their eight-part seriesThe Serpent.^[51]

Smith is also in an episode ofMade in Heaven (2019) onAmazon Video,C.I.D. (1997–2013) onSony,Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (2012–2014),Hansa: A Love Story,Rishtey andTime Bomb 9/11 onZee TV,The Sword of Tipu Sultan (1990) onDoordarshan,The Return of Sandokan on Italian National TV, andSamvidhaan: The Making of the Constitution of India (2014) produced byRajya Sabha TV and directed byShyam Benegal.

Smith regularly lends his voice for various radio dramas, documentaries and advertisements. His voice has been featured inTiger's Eye andThe Mrichhakatikaa for BBC Radio,^[52][53][54] and on Personality Hour for Times FM.

Has also dubbed in Hindi feature films likeHanuman,House of Flying Daggers,The Boolean Conspiracy,Up,Bolt,James and the Giant Peach,Amar Chitra Katha,A Bug's Life,Shoot at Sight,Making of The Mahatma,Kung Fu Hustle andRed Cliff. He has done and several voiceovers for commercials, corporate films and documentaries.^[55]

Smith's love of music –Jazz in particular – has translated into being a regular host of jazz festivals, music and other events. He regularly hosts Jazz tribute concerts onInternational Jazz Day at theNational Centre for the Performing Arts andBlue Frog in Mumbai. He also co-hosted the META awards in 2014 withPerizaad Zorabian.^[56][57]

Smith has been involved in charities such as Avehi Abacus.^[58] He also conducts voice workshops in theatre institutes and colleges in India.^[59][60][61]

Smith founded Stagesmith Productions in 2006 with an aim to produce Indian English Theatre rooted in homegrown narratives. Its first production, titledJazz, starred actor Bhargava Krishna, saxophonist Rhys D’souza, and featured musical compositions by Merlin D’Souza.^[62] The play opened to a full-house at thePrithvi Theatre Festival in 2007, and won a 'Best Actor' award for Krishna at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards in 2008.^[63][64] The play has also been credited with laying the seed for Fernandes' now-iconic book on the history ofJazz music inIndia andGoanJazz musicians in Bombay's film industry –Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age.^[65][66]

In 2015, StageSmith revivedJazz, and renamed itBombay Jazz with Smith himself playing the mentor – an amalgamation of jazz musicians Sebastian D’Souza, Chris Perry, Micky Correa,Chic Chocolate (also known asLouis Armstrong of India)^[67]Frank Fernand andAnthony Gonsalves –^[68] with saxophonist Rhys Sebastian D’Souza playing the mentee.

In 2016, StageSmith created a new production "Poetrification" dubbed as "Your moment to get smashed by some poetry & music."^[69] In the performance, Denzil Smith, Danish Husain, and a musician craft a performance of poetry, music, and banter. Denzil performs pieces by English poets from the sub-continent -Dom Moraes,AK Ramanujan,Jeet Thayil,Arundhathi Subramaniam - while Danish recites Urdu poets -Ghalib,Noon Meem Rashed,Faiz,Zehra Nigah,Afzal Ahmed Syed. Through this, Adil Manuel or Beven Fonesca weave words with music.^[70][71]

• Denzil Smith's Official Website
• Denzil Smith atIMDb

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• Living people
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