Indian movie actor Tshering Phintso `Danny` Denzongpa was born on February 25, 1948. Denzongpa was born in the state of Sikkim, which was an independent monarchy at that time. He is Bhutia by origin and belongs to the ethnic Bhutia race. Denzongpa had passion for horses and horse riding, as his family was into horse breeding. He aspired to join the Indian Army and received the Best Cadet award from West Bengal and participated in the Republic Day parade. He had also qualified for the Armed Forces Medical College but dropped his idea following a Sino-Indian War of 1962. Instead he enrolled himself in the FTII in Pune.
Danny Denzongpa`s Bollywood Career
He started his career by singing Nepali songs and also acting in Nepali movies. His Nepali song "Kaanchi lai ghumaune Kathmandu Sahara" is still a very famous one.
He has acted in numerous Hindi films and made a mark by his performances. Some of his landmark movies are as follows Ashoka, 16 December, Agnepath, Jagira, Khoj, Hum, Khuda gawah, Vijaypath, Kohram: the explosion, China gate, Lajja and many more. Denzongpa is noted for his roles as a villain. In many of his films he has successfully played the role of a villain. He is also the only actor to have come from Sikkim.
Danny used to practice learning Urdu, the lingua franca of Bollywood. The Urdu came in handy in films such as Sawan Kumar`s Sanam Bewafa and Mukul Anand`s Khuda Gawah where he played the role of Pathans. Previously he started his career with unnoticiable films playing positive roles. Such films are Zaroorat, Apne, Kala Sona, etc. He then shifted to negative role. 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. He has also starred in international films, the most famous being `Seven Years in Tibet` where he acted along with Hollywood actor Brad Pitt. Danny is also an accomplished singer having sung with some stalwarts singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhonsle. Among his famous Nepalese songs and Nepalese movies the two most famous songs are `Chiso Chiso Hawama` and `Rato Rani Phule`. His hobby also includes painting, writing and sculpting. Denzongpa owns two breweries, one in South Sikkim, and the other in state of Orissa.
Awards and Honours of Danny Denzongpa
In 2003, Denzongpa was awarded the Padma Shri. This is India`s fourth highest civilian honour. In 1992 Danny has won the filmfare award as the role of best supporting actor for `Khuda Gawah`. In the year 1991 the actor got the same award for `Sanam Bewafa`. Danny is married to Gawa Denzongpa, a Sikkimese princess and has a son named Rinzing and a daughter named Pema.
