As veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty’s name is announced for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, he is proud of his humble beginnings and this coveted honour
From art-house cinema to dancing sensation, from lead actor to memorable cameos, Mithun Chakraborty’s journey has been a momentous one and decorated too. The Padma Bhushan recipient, former member of Rajya Sabha has been chosen for the highest cinematic honour, Dadasaheb Phalke Award, to be conferred on October 8 during the 70th National Awards Film Ceremony. Despite Mithun’s political affiliations (he is currently member of the BJP), few can grudge this latest feather in his cap. Making the announcement when Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw writes on X, ‘Mithun Da’s remarkable cinematic journey inspires generations’, he is not way off the mark.
Winner of three National Awards, the very first with his debut film itself, the much-acclaimed Mrigayaa, directed by Mrinal Sen, Mithun has indeed delighted cinegoers of nearly every decade. If cinephiles of yore remember him for movies like Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye, Hum Se Hai Zamana opposite Zeenat Aman, and Basu Chatterjee’s delectable Pasand Apni Apni, more recently we have seen him etch some memorable parts in films like OMG – Oh My God!, The Tashkent Files and The Kashmir Files. The devious smile playing on his lips in OMG will probably go down as one of the finest portrayals of stylised mannerisms. Umesh Shukla director, OMG – Oh My God!, shares, “Brilliant, versatile actor, a star; you always want to work with such an actor to make your film memorable.”
Goutam Ghose calls him a ‘director’s actor who will deliver exactly what the director desires’. Ghose, who directed him in Gudiya, which was screened in the Un-Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, has known Mithun since mid-1970s and recalls how the actor was struggling in those days even after receiving a national award.
Born as Gouranga Chakraborty on June 16, 1950, in Calcutta, now Kolkata, Mithun has often spoken about his trials and tribulations as well as the ‘colour bias’, which he faced during the early days of his career in the Hindi film industry. But fame was around the corner and stardom came with Disco Dancer in 1982, which proved to be a true-blue blockbuster — a hit in Soviet Union too! With movies like Dance Dance, Pyar Jhukta Nahi and Commando, the original dancing star rose to greater heights. If back in time India grooved to songs like Jimmy Jimmy and I Am A Disco Dancer, the GenNext rediscovered Jimmy Jimmy during the Covid pandemic. It became a new anthem of protest against the lockdown in China.
Mithun’s signature dancing moves are hailed as iconic till date and he is in the Limca Book of Records for a maximum number of movie releases — 19 — in 1989. He acted in over 100 films in one decade.
With stardom, he revealed once, also came loneliness as many feared he might have become too big for his boots. Ghose, however, swears by his sincerity both as an actor and as a person with no starry airs. He shared how Mithun made usal paav for the entire team on the sets of Gudiya. Vivek Agnihotri, his director in The Tashkent Files and The Kashmir Files, adds, “He is not a typical showbiz person. He loves animals and any animal-lover I believe is a great human being.”
But then the actor, who believes in being a good human first, and is today extremely touched by the honour, has never forgotten his humble beginnings. In a recent interview, he talked about how it was unbelievable that a man from the footpath could rise to receive such a great honour.
Any wonder his son Namashi Chakraborty calls him a ‘self-made superstar’. But no moniker can define or contain the talent of this Film Training Institute of India, Pune, graduate, whom we have seen dominate both Hindi and Bengali cinema, many mediums from cinema to television. In popular television show Dance India Dance, he was seen as the Grand Master for years. His digital debut in psychological thriller Bestseller in 2022 may not have been a perfect landing, but then the actor of over 350 films in various languages knows too well that not every film makes the cut. Nevertheless, for someone who has reinvented himself time and again, who calls his life ‘a hit’ will keep making a distinctive mark.
Agnihotri who has cast him in his upcoming The Delhi Files too feels, “He has so much left in him to perform, so many characters he can do with his vast experience, preparation and understanding of cinema. May dada live for more than 100 years.” Amen!
