Tshering Phintso "Danny" Denzongpa (born February 25, 1948) is an
Indian actor. Denzongpa was born in the state of Sikkim, at that time
an independent monarchy. He has acted in numerous Hindi films such as
Ashoka and 16 December. He has also starred in an international films,
the most famous being Seven Years in Tibet where he acted alongside
Hollywood actor Brad Pitt. In 2003, Denzongpa was awarded the Padma
Shree, India's fourth highest civilian honour. Denzongpa is noted for
his roles as a villain. He is also the only actor to have come from
Sikkim.Denzongpa's love of horses and horse riding began at an early
age, as his family was into horse breeding . He nursed an ambition to
join the Indian Army, and won the Best Cadet award from West Bengal and
participated in the Republic Day parade. In an interview to The Times
of India newspaper he told that he had qualified for the prestigious
Armed Forces Medical College however after the Sino-Indian War of 1962,
his mother pleaded with him to give up joining the army after several
people of their village were killed. Danny then enrolled in the Film
institute in Pune.