Once Upon a Cinema 36: Danny Denzongpa-Kancha Cheena and other adventures

When Tshering Phintso was born to the horse-rearing Denzongpa family in Gangtok, Sikkim was a monarchy ruled by Chogyal Tashi Namgyal. Chogyals were priest-kings, whose powers were said to have divine ratification. Tashi Namgyal was crowned by the thirteenth Dalai Lama himself. Tshering was passionate about horses from an early age, but as he grew up, the boy seemed more and more resolute to join the Indian Armed Forces. He also participated in the Republic Day parade as a young cadet. But during the Indo- China War of 1960s, dead soldiers’ bodies were being sent back to the village. Tshering’s mother was deeply affected by this and forbade her son from joining the army. Young Tshering, with a heavy heart, set sail for Pune to join the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

While at the Institute, the students had to introduce themselves to their seniors during the orientation day. As he announced his name ‘Tshering Phintso Denzongpa’, the others couldn’t seem to understand, and kept asking him to repeat it. In the following days, friends kept making fun of him, making noises as if calling his name when they saw him. It was then that one of his best friends at the institute, Jaya Bhaduri, intervened. She rechristened him ‘Danny’ so that it’s easier for people to pronounce.

In the next decade or so, Danny Denzongpa established himself as an actor in the Hindi film industry, then dominated by north Indian males who looked a certain way. Even with today’s liberal and multicultural atmosphere, there are almost no mainstream actors who hail from the northeast. Considering what he achieved in 1970s Bollywood, one would marvel at Denzongpa’s career. He is said to have practiced Hindi diction by speaking to the sea for hours on end. Today, many A-listers in Bollywood do not have the masterful command over Hindi or Urdu that he possesses. His career took off with Gulzar’s Mere Apne (1971) where he got to work with the pristine Meena Kumari, and with B.R. Chopra’s Dhund (1983) which allowed him to showcase his acting chops. But he turned down some important roles that made people sit up and take notice.

He was famously offered the role of Gabbar Singh for Sholay, but he chose not to accept it. He explained in an interview to Filmfare: “I had signed Feroz bhai’s (Khan) Dharmatma and was about to leave for Afghanistan. Ramesh ji wanted those very dates. But Feroz bhai had signed me first, paid me first and asked for the dates first. I was committed to him and couldn’t back out, though I very much wanted to play Gabbar.” A meeting was arranged between Feroz Khan and Ramesh Sippy, but that didn’t help. But Danny felt it all turned out well for everyone concerned. “Not only was a wonderful actor like Amjad Khan born but it also benefitted me. The hero was paid around Rs 12 lakh as remuneration while Amjad started charging Rs 11 lakh. I was next in the line, so I too availed of it. Overall the status of the character artiste rose.”

His friendship with the Bachchan family is well known, but despite that, he chose to stay away from any Amitabh Bachchan starrer for almost two decades. With the kind of presence Bachchan commanded in the 1970s–1980s, he believed that he wouldn’t be noticed if they were to share screen space. Danny explained in the interview, “I kept holding myself back from working with Amit ji. I thought here’s this huge actor, who gets the best roles. No one would notice me if I was in the same frame with him. If the film were a hit, all credit would go to him. But if it flopped then the ‘new’ guy would be blamed. I kept refusing even Manji (the late director Manmohan Desai) who offered me four films with Amitji including Mard and Coolie…Once I was at Film City where Manji was also shooting. He went on his knees and teased me in front of everyone, ‘Sir, please do a film for me’. I replied, ‘Sochenge!’ I’d tell Manji you’re dragging the industry back by 20 years (hinting at Desai’s fantastical cinema). You give one super-hit and 10 other guys follow you’. Manji would give me the choicest gaalis. But main seedha aadmihoon, I speak the truth no matter how bitter!”

Bachchan and Danny came very close to sharing the screen in a film called Andhaa Kanoon (1983), where Denzongpa played one of the main protagonists and Amitabh Bachchan had an extended cameo. But his character gets killed off halfway through the film. Both of them made friendly appearances in the Jagdeep-starrer Soorma Bhopali (1988) as well. Even the mighty Manmohan Desai, who offered him Coolie and Mard, was unable to make him budge from his resolve. But eventually, destiny had other plans.

When Mukul Anand came to him with the role that became Kancha Cheena, it seemed irresistible. Finally, here was a part that possibly could not go unnoticed. Denzongpa and Bachchan teamed up, for the first time in eighteen years. The role became so integral to the film that in 2012, when Agneepath was remade, Kancha Cheena had a far stronger part to play in the script than even the lead, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Sanjay Dutt played the role, and it ended up as one of the greatest villain roles in recent times. But they might have messed up the concept just a little bit. I believe that Kancha Cheena is a somewhat racist allusion to the mongoloid looks of the character: Kancha (Nepali) + Cheena (Chinese). It was Danny who suggested the name.

Mukul Anand brought Amitabh Bachchan and Danny together in two more films – Hum (1991) and Khuda Gawah (1992). Mukul was able to convince Danny each time. Both those films worked better than Agneepath, which was a washout. And yet Kancha Cheena remains one of the most memorable Danny Denzongpa villains of all time.

Amborish is a National Film Award winning writer, biographer and film historian.

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