Danny Denzongpa Birthday Special, YEH TSHERING PENTSO KAUN THA ? KAHA SE AAYA ?

Danny Denzongpa Birthday Special: When Danny Denzongpa first joined the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, he was the butt of jokes of his fellow students and even his professors, who made snide remarks about him. A Gurkha from Sikkim with a strange name, a weird face and squinty eyes, how could he dare to think of joining a demanding career in acting? How could he even think of being an actor in Hindi films when he had the features of an alien?

Why was he wasting his family's money and his time? These were some of the questions they asked while talking about 'Woh Gorkha Chhokara', while Danny gave the best performance of his two-year course in acting. It took him very little time to prove how talented he was as an actor who could play the most difficult characters and who had mastered the three major languages, Hindi, Urdu and English. He gave a big surprise to his colleagues, his principal Professor Roshan Taneja, all the other professors and his colleagues, but they were still not sure about what he would do in films.

He was not good enough as a full-fledged hero and not good enough as a bad man, they all believed. 'When we become stars and build our bungalows in Juhu and Bandra, he could have got plenty of roles with Gurkhas and chowkidars or security personnel watching our gates,' said one of his female colleagues who was in the institute with him and who failed miserably as an actress and is today an old and lazy housewife in Mumbai and everyone agreed with her. He had only two very good friends who were with him through thick and thin, Jaya Bhaduri who tied a 'rakhi' on his wrist and made him her brother for life and Romesh Sharma. Only they kept encouraging him and motivating him to be better all the time. It was at this time that he befriended a completely unknown actor called Amitabh Bachchan who visited FTII on the recommendation of KA Abbas who signed him as his leading man in 'Saat Hindustani'. Amitabh, Jaya, Romesh and Danny became very good friends. Amitabh also fell in love with Jaya, whom he married a few years later. The friendship between these four still continues and only grows stronger. Danny walked out of FTII with Jaya, armed with a gold medal and word about his talent had already spread in some film circles. Jaya and Romesh soon found work but Danny faced failure again and again. He was humiliated and insulted and even asked how he could imagine being an actor. Then one day a leading producer took pity on him and said he could offer him the job of a Gurkha (watchman) outside his bungalow.

That hot afternoon Danny Denzongpa who had nothing and nothing to live by, vowed that he would one day build his own bungalow next to the producer's bungalow, a palatial bungalow and put not one but many watchmen at his gate and he kept that vow and has the best bungalow in Juhu named 'D'Zongrilla' and true to his vow his bungalow is right next to the old bungalow of the producer who offered him the job of a watchman! This is going to be a long way in Danny Denzongpa's future. His talent was first noticed by a maverick director BR Ishara who started his own school of filmmaking with brave and bold subjects, films made on a shoestring budget and with new actors. Danny was a regular in all his films. Gulzar cast him as a rowdy college student in his very first film as a director 'Mere Apne'. Danny was noticed when BR Chopra took a big risk and cast him as the main villain in 'Dhund' opposite Zeenat Aman and Naveen Nischol in the romantic lead.

With this one film Danny cleared the fog around his career and rose to stardom and was accepted as one of the best villains of all time. Danny was now wanted by all the big filmmakers and was seen as the only match for all the action and he-man heroes. But Danny was a smart actor. He decided to be very selective. Money was not his only need, creative satisfaction was. He can still play some of the most challenging characters but he has been stamped as a great villain, a stamp he finds very difficult to erase. Danny is considered a misfit in the industry and he likes it that way. He lives his own kind of life at home in 'D'Zongrilla' with his wife and two children. And whenever he feels 'suffocated' in the atmosphere of Mumbai he packs his bags and goes alone, pitching his tent on one of the highest mountains of Himalaya where he finds his only 'true friends', the mountains which give him everything and the peace he is looking for all the time.

 More about Danny Denzongpa

1. Danny was born in a small town in Sikkim in a middle class family. He was very popular in his community, a good actor, a good singer, a good meme, a Hindi film enthusiast and a big fan of Pran, the villain who remains his favourite till date. An astrologer had predicted that he would be a sadhu.

2. It was one of his elders who saw the FTII advertisement and asked him to apply. He just took a chance and was selected which was an occasion of celebration for his family and community. He had never travelled outside the hills of Sikkim, he had come to Pune for the first time.

3. Life at FTII was very tough and he often says that it would have been even more difficult if he didn't have good friends like Jaya Bhaduri and Romesh Sharma.

4. His struggle in Bombay was much more difficult. His characteristics went against him. He slept in the Mahakali caves where Subhash Ghai, Javed Akhtar and other strugglers slept and dreamt of success.

5. The first few roles that Danny played helped him grow as an actor who could work on his own terms and conditions.

6. He ruled the eighties as the bad guy and was thrilled when Pran predicted a very bright future for him.

7. 'He will not only be a good bad guy but I am sure he will cross all the bridges that I have crossed' said Pran and Danny went to his house to touch his feet and seek his blessings.

8. Danny, who started out as a small-time villain, became the most popular villain and pitted himself against all the leading male stars. He was always at his best when teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan, his best friend.

9. He had his own apartment in Kalummal Estate from where he shifted to 'D'Zongrilla' where he lived alone with several servants of whom he could not count. He once crashed into his own glass wall and spent six months in Nanavati Hospital.

10. He has never been a fan of grabbing films. He has done only one or two big films in a year because he is very particular about his role and his price in which he does not compromise.

11. Madan Arora has been his personal secretary since the beginning of his career. Arora is also the general manager of his beer brewery, which has the Danzberg brand, the most popular beer in north and east India.

12. Danny hopes to expand his business empire. Incidentally, Madan Arora is the father of Karuna who is Shah Rukh Khan's right-hand woman.

13. Danny directed 'Phir Wahi Raat' for NN Sippy, who also gave Subhash Ghai his first break, but Danny did not try again as he found that it was not for him.

14. Danny recorded a song in his voice for 'Yeh Gulistan Hamara' starring Dev Anand and Sharmila Tagore, directed by Guru Dutt's brother Atmaram. The song was filmed on Johnny Walker. He has never sung professionally again but is very popular as a singer among his close friends.

15. Danny has always hated the small screen but he made an exception and played the title role in his friend Romesh Sharma's 'Ajnabee', which ran for a record five years.

16. Danny is an unmatched fan of Kishore Kumar and has a complete collection of his songs and movies which gives him all the satisfaction he needs when he is alone.

17. He is always grateful for what Mumbai has done for him but now he is sick of the increasing population, congestion, congested traffic and above all the noise pollution.

18. Danny is what he calls a 'home person'. He hates going to parties and events unless it is absolutely necessary. His best time is the time he spends with his wife and two kids.

19. His ultimate ambition is to give up everything and return to the mountains that he feels have always been calling him and spend the rest of his life among them as a hermit.

20. His son is now being trained as an actor by Shah Rukh Khan's guru, Barry John and is expected to be launched soon.

Danny Denzongpa Last Movie

Oonchai is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language adventure drama film directed by Sooraj Barjatya, written by Abhishek Dixit based on an original story by Sunil Gandhi and jointly produced by Rajshri Productions, Boundless Media and Mahaveer Jain Films. The 60th film produced by Rajshri stars Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Danny Denzongpa, Parineeti Chopra, Neena Gupta and Sarika.

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