Mithun: The Outsider We Love To Watch

Mithun
Chakraborty
started
from
scratch
in
bit
roles
and
had
no
Godfather
backing
him.
Yet,
remarkably,
his
career
now
straddles
six
decades
and
he
continues
to
win
acclaim,
observes
Dinesh
Raheja.

It
is
the
best
of
times
for
Mithun
Chakraborty.

Though
the
veteran
actor
began
2024
on
a
grim
note
when
he
was
hospitalised
for
an
ischemic
cerebrovascular
stroke
of
the
brain,
he
has
since
bounded
back.
And
now,
the
plaudits
are
flooding
in.

Mithun
has
been
accorded
the
prestigious
Dadasaheb
Phalke
award,
and
will
accept
it
on
October
8.

Earlier
this
year,
he
had
been
conferred
with
the
Padma
Bhushan
as
well
as
the
Filmfare
Award
Bangla
for
Best
Actor
Critics,
thanks
to
his
revelatory
performance
in

Kabuliwala
(2023).

Mithun’s
is
the
story
of
The
Outsider,
who
has
through
sheer
grit
carved
out
a
place
for
himself
within
the
charmed
circle.

The
actor
started
from
scratch
in
bit
roles
and
had
no
Godfather
backing
him.
Yet,
remarkably,
his
career
now
straddles
six
decades
and
he
continues
to
win
acclaim.

Mithun
rocketed
to
the
top,
fired
by
the
primal,
on-the-hunt
quality
that
he
exuded
whether
as
a
zestful
disco
dancer
or
as
Truth’s
soldier
in
countless
potboilers.

Over
the
years,
the
quality
of
Mithun’s
films
has
fluctuated
wildly
but
the
three-time
National
Award
winning
actor
keeps
his
nose
to
the
grindstone
and
continues
working.

He
has
done
over
250
Hindi
films
in
the
main
role.
So,
in
sheer
numerical
terms,
Mithun
has
played
the
leading
man
in
more
Hindi
films
than
any
other
actor,
before
or
since.

Initially,
though,
Mithun
seemed
to
have
little
going
for
him.
The
science
graduate
from
Kolkata
studied
cinema
at
the
FTII
(Film
and
Television
Institute
of
India)
but
had
to
scrounge
for
work
in
Mumbai.

The
1976
Amitabh-Rekha
starrer

Do
Anjane
credits
him
as
‘Mitun
Chakravarty’
and
affords
a
fleeting
glimpse
of
the
young
actor
as
a
street
ruffian
who
scraps
with
Amitabh.

Mithun’s
luck
turned
with
his
first
major
role.
He
delivered
an
eviscerating
performance
as
the
livewire
tribal
hunter
who
grapples
with
colonial
era
justice
in
renowned
art
film
director
Mrinal
Sen’s

Mrigayaa
(1977).

Mithun
exuded
a
raw
potency
in
the
scenes
when
he’s
tracking
prey,
human
or
animal.
It
won
him
a
National
Award
for
Best
Actor.

His
bronze,
bare-chested
physique
in
the
film
also
caught
the
attention
of
mainstream
filmmakers.

Stardom
finally
came
Mithun’s
way
in
1979
with
the
twin
successes
of
the
Bond-like
spy
thriller,

Suraksha
and
the
Rajashri
musical,

Taraana.

As
Gunmaster
G9
in

Suraksha,
Mithun
cut
a
dashing
figure
whether
he
was
fighting
the
villains
or
grooving
like
Travolta
to
the
soundtrack
by
Bappi
Lahiri
who
introduced
disco
beats
to
Hindi
cinema
with
the
song

Mausam
Hai
Gaane
Ka.

After
these
successes,
Mithun
all
but
ran
out
of
ink
signing
films
by
the
dozen.
Many
co-starred
Ranjeeta,
his
hit
co-star
in
both
these
films.

And
while
he
did
sign
films
with
prominent
names
like
Dulal
Guha,
Pramod
Chakravorty
Basu
Chatterji
and
Shakti
Samanta,
many
were
also
unabashedly
B-grade.

But
talent
shines
like
a
diamond
even
in
the
rough.

Mithun
made
a
big
splash
with

Hum
Paanch
(1981),
which
like

Mrigayaa
saw
him
playing
a
character
on
the
cusp
between
innocence
and
raw
power.

As
Bheema,
the
labourer
unfettering
his
feudal
bonds
in
this
modern
parallel
to
the
Mahabharata,
Mithun
forcefully
communicated
the
anger
of
the
dispossessed.

Mithun
was
now
on
a
league
of
his
own,
signing
films
with
A-list
actresses
like
Zeenat
Aman
(Humse
Hai
Zamana),
Parveen
Babi
(Ashanti)
and
popular
youngsters
like
Rati
Agnihotri
(Shaukeen).

The
buzz
around
the
actor
reached
its
crescendo
with
the
release
of
the
1982
smash
hit

Disco
Dancer.

Sporting
a
shirt
open
to
the
waist,
trousers
laminated
to
his
legs
and
high
heels,
Mithun’s
lightening
moves
to
a
string
of
dance
floor
favorites
like

I
Am
A
Disco
Dancer
and
the
unfiltered
emotionalism
of

Yaad
Aa
Raha
Hai
Tera
Pyar
turned
him
into
a
sensation.

Mithun
continued
to
sign
stacks
of
films,
and
for
several
years
the
successes
kept
rolling
in
—
whether
it
was
family
dramas
like

Ghar
Ek
Mandir
(1984)
and

Swarg
Se
Sunder
(1986)
or
thrillers
like

Aandhi
Toofan
(1985)
and

Watan
Ke
Rakhwale
(1987).

Mithun’s
films
were
largely
reflective
of
the
1980s
when
creativity
often
took
a
back
seat
to
the
box
office.

His
biggest
hit
in
this
period
was
the
romantic
superhit

Pyar
Jhukta
Nahin
(1985)
opposite
Padmini
Kolhapure.

It
was
yet
another
version
of
the
status-differences-breaking-a-marriage
theme
successfully
brought
onscreen
by

Jab
Jab
Phool
Khile
in
the
1960s
and
later
by

Raja
Hindustani
in
the
1990s.

Mithun
signed
a
dozen
odd
films
with
Padmini
Kolhapure
and
became
the
second
highest
paid
actor
in
Bollywood.

Despite
a
Filmfare
Award
for
the
Best
Supporting
Actor
in
the
Amitabh
vehicle

Agneepath
(1990),
Mithun’s
tryst
with
big
banners
and
major
directors
like
Manmohan
Desai
(Ganga
Jamuna
Saraswati)
and
Ramesh
Sippy
(Bhrashtachar)
was
not
as
successful
as
his
work
with
directors
like
B
Subhash
and
Deepak
Bahry.

In
the
early
1990s,
Mithun’s
career
graph
hit
a
low,
and
even
a
couple
of
films
with
Mahesh
Bhatt

(Tadipaar,
Naaraaz)
could
not
halt
the
slide.
Mithun
decided
he
needed
a
break.

Even
when
in
Mumbai,
Mithun
had
preferred
his
bungalow
in
scenic
Madh
Island
to
the
frenzy
of
Bollywood
hotspots.
Then,
he
further
withdrew
to
the
hill
station
of
Ooty.
While
he
became
an
entrepreneur
with
his
own
hotel,
The
Monarch,
he
also
set
up
a
veritable
one-man
film
industry
there.

Some
of
his
1990s
films
like

Jallad
(1995)
fetched
him
critical
acclaim
but
most
of
his
films
were
action-filled
assembly
line
productions.

For
a
while,
it
seemed
his
undeniable
talents
were
being
compromised
by
the
films
he
chose
to
appear
in.

His
sheer
prolificity
and
professionalism
resulted
in
78
of
his
films
releasing
every
year
well
into
the
new
millennium.

Bengali
cinema
afforded
him
meatier
roles
at
this
stage,
and
Mithun
collaborated
successfully
with
Buddhadeb
Dasgupta
(1993’s

Tahader
Katha
won
him
his
second
National
Award)
and
Rituparna
Ghosh
(Titli,
2002).

The
actor
won
his
third
National
Award
for
playing
the
guru
Ramkrishna
in
the
bilingual,

Swami
Vivekananda
(1997).

Character
roles
started
coming
Mithun’s
way
thereafter,
and
he
grabbed
the
opportunity
to
showcase
his
art.

He
was
effective
in
Mani
Ratnam’s

Guru
(2007)
as
the
morally
upright
media
baron
whose
principles
drive
him
to
file
a
court
case
against
the
titular
character,
his
own
family
friend
and
protégé.

The
actor
sharpened
his
comic
skills
too
with

Golmaal
3
(‘Jinke
ghar
sheeshe
ke
hote
hai
na…
woh
basement

mein
kapde
badalte
hai,’
his
character
quips).

And
he
was
fully
qualified
to
play
the
Grand
Master
on
the
long-running
television
reality
show

Dance
India
Dance.
His
trademark
‘Kya
baat‘
delivered
in
his
archetypal
style
became
a
popular,
oft-quoted
catchphrase.

Mithun,
74,
has
weathered
many
storms.

For
four
decades,
he
has
been
married
to
actress
Yogeeta
Bali
(they
fell
in
love
after
working
together
in
early
1980s
films
like

Khwab
and

Be-Shaque).

He
often
cooks
for
his
four
children
on
their
weekend
cheat
day.
But
on
other
days,
he
prefers
to
work.

As
long
as
he
has
his
way,
Mithun
refuses
to
slow
down.