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| Edited By: Hiren Kotwani |Source: DNA |Updated: May 21, 2018, 07:15 AM IST
In a career spanning over four-and-a-half decades, Danny Denzongpa has essayed a variety of roles. The 70-year-old, who has declined offers for want of novelty in characters and films, now spends most of his time at his farmhouse in his home state Sikkim, where he has a successful brewery business. When he’s not acting in movies, the Padma Shri recipient paints, carves, treks, till an interesting role and project beckons him to Mumbai. With his next, Bioscopewala releasing on May 25, we catch up with the actor. Excerpts...
Maybe you feel that because you’re used to seeing me in powerful roles. But in Baby, I had maximum scenes, and we shot according to the script. Having said that, there has been a gap, but during that time I was shooting for Bioscopewala and then I took up Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi. The latter is mounted on a huge scale and took time to make. I still have to do some patchwork on it. That’s my other release this year.
Many offers that came to me were conventional roles, which I had played before. Most new directors have that image of me from the movies, which I did in the ’80s and ’90s. That was too monotonous and I wanted to do something different. So, I chose these two movies.
It’s based on Rabindranath Tagore’s story Kabuliwala. When I was a kid, I had seen Bimal Roy’s Kabuliwala, in which Balraj Sahni played the protagonist. It’s a nice emotional story, which revolves around the relationship between the protagonist and the little girl. That film really moved me. In the ’70s, I wanted to do a film on Kabuliwala and requested Bimal Roy if he could part with the rights. But that time, it didn’t materialise. So, when this offer came to me, I was excited as I wanted to do this role.
It has been a pleasant journey. When I came into the industry, I was like an alien as I looked different (laughs). Filmmakers would make movies on subjects in which I didn’t fit in. Somehow I got a chance to act in Gulzar saab’s Mere Apne. Then BR Ishara chose me for Zaroorat (1972). Finally, BR Chopra cast me in Dhund (1973), which made me a star. People have been kind after that. Then filmmakers started making lost-and-found stories.
Manmohan Desai made many of them, which became huge hits. I couldn’t fit in them as I couldn’t look like anyone’s son or brother. So, I didn’t accept many of those offers. Then, NN Sippy offered me Fakira (1976) and interestingly, I was supposed to play Shashi Kapoor’s brother. It became a golden jubilee hit. That’s when I realised that once the public accepts you, they will accept you in any part. Thereafter, I played everyone’s brother or father (smiles).
I have been blessed to be successful. However, sometimes I feel I didn’t get the kind of roles I wanted to play. I did Frozen (2007), which was a nice subject and a different take on cinema. It won two National Awards, bagged honours and won acclaim at several international film festivals, but it didn’t do well commercially. I was still waiting for interesting parts. Bioscopewala is one of those films that has a simple, yet different story and is made very well. Director Deb Medhekar and his crew have worked hard. The response to the trailer is good and I hope people like the movie, too.
When the roles got monotonous, I took a break. In fact, I wanted to quit and attempt something different. I went through that phase several times. In the ’70s, I was doing many films and suddenly I got so fed up with the routine work that I stopped signing movies. I directed a horror flick, Phir Wohi Raat (1980) with Rajesh Khanna. Then I took a break for two years as I was fed up. I went trekking, started painting, carving... I do all these things as they give me immense pleasure. Cinema is an expensive art form whereas painting requires just some paint and a brush. If you don’t like it, you can trash it and restart. So, it doesn’t cost much.
I follow my heart. Fortunately, people accepted me when I resumed working in movies.
I had some scripts when I got more acting offers from major filmmakers. While shooting those movies, I discussed the subjects that I wanted to explore with those producers. But they felt the stories were either like Hollywood movies or not too commercial. Since I got good acting offers, I took them up and didn’t pursue direction the way most people do. Someday, if I feel like, I might make a different movie.
I think so. I remember, many years ago, before I joined films, Dharamji played a character with grey shades in Aayee Milan Ki Bela (1964), which starred Rajendra Kumar and Saira Banu. He was even nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Those days, heroes never did negative roles. In the ’70s and ’80s, villains became the most important characters after heroes. In the stories, their roles were written larger-than-life. They had wonderful dialogues, they were loud and seemed gimmicky, but it made a lot of impact on the audience.
There was Pran saab, Prem Chopra, then I came in, then Amrish Puri, Amjad Khan, Ranjeet, Gulshan Grover, Shakti Kapoor, everyone had their own parts. But when heroes started playing grey characters, the parts for villains gradually diminished.
Now, if it’s written in a believable way, we can still do it.
Rinzing has been training himself. He’s even getting offers, but he will have to decide for himself what is right for him. For a newcomer, picking a wrong movie at the beginning of his career can prove to have an adverse effect for a couple of years. He’s a grown-up boy who can look after himself. What’s the use if I have to make a film for him or call friends to cast him? He should achieve his goal on his own merit.
