When Danny Denzongpa Changed His Name On The Recommendation Of His Classmate Jaya Bachchan

Tshering Phintso Denzongpa, popularly known as Danny Denzongpa is best known for portraying negative roles in movies like Bandish, The Burning Train, Hum, Ghatak, Pukar, 1942: A Love Story and many more. Danny's character of 'Kancha Cheena' in the movie, Agneepath is still considered one of his best performances.

In a career spanning more than four decades, Danny has some tremendous roles to his credit. With his perfectly gelled hair and sunglasses, Danny is one of the most handsome villains of B-town. Talking about his personal life, Danny had tied the knot with Gawa Denzongpa in 1990, and they have two kids, a son, Rinzing Denzongpa and a daughter, Pema Denzongpa.

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Do you know how Danny got his name? In a throwback interview with Filmfare, the actor had recalled how actress, Jaya Bhaduri (now Bachchan) had recommended him to change his long name to make it simpler. It was Jaya, who had suggested keeping his name, Danny. Revealing the same, he had stated:

"Jaya was my classmate at the FTII. On orientation day, newcomers have to introduce themselves to the seniors. When I said my name Tshering Phintso Denzongpa, they couldn’t get it and kept saying, ‘Come again, come again!’ It became a joke. My classmates would call out ‘Shhssh shhhssh…’ as though I were a puppy! Jaya suggested I keep it simple and named me Danny."

Even though Danny and Jaya strike a great friendship, he was always wary of working with Amitabh Bachchan. Although the two were contemporaries, Danny had felt that sharing the same screen with Amitabh will not be beneficial for him as he won't get noticed. However, in 1990, Dany and Amitabh had appeared together in Mukul Anand's film, Agneepath, where Amitabh had played the role of 'Vijay Deenanath Chauhan' and Danny as 'Kancha Cheena'.

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Though Agneepath was not a blockbuster, it is one of the cult movies of that time. Talking about his role in the movie, Danny had told Filmfare:

"When Mukul Anand told me about Kancha Cheena’s role alongside Amitji in Agneepath, I knew it wouldn’t go unnoticed."

Danny was once in a serious relationship with the stunning actress, Parveen Babi. They were quite serious about each other; however, things didn't work out between them. Talking about his live-in relationship with Parveen, Danny had once shared with the Filmfare:

"We were two young kids and we lived together for four years. That was big news those days. We had a wonderful time, but later we grew apart and parted on a good note. We remained friends."

After Agneepath, Danny and Amitabh Bachchan had also worked in films like Hum and Khuda Gawah.

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