mithun chakraborty

Mithun Chakraborty (Bengali: মিঠুন চক্রবর্তী Miṭhun Chôkroborti, Hindi: मिथुन चक्रवर्ती; born Gouranga Chakraborty on 16 June 1950 ) is a National Film Award-winning iconic Indian film actor, social activist and entrepreneur. Chakraborty made his acting debut with the arthouse drama Mrigaya (1976), for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor. In his heyday during the 1980s, he had earned a huge fan following as a dancing star and went on to establish himself as one of the most popular and leading actors of India, particularly recognised for his role of street dancer Jimmy in the 1982 cult hit, Disco Dancer.

Altogether Chakraborty has appeared in more than 350 Bollywood films as well as a number of Bengali, Oriya and Bhojpuri films. Mithun also owns the Monarch Group which has interests in the hospitality sector.
He was supposed to be awarded the Padmashri in the year Shah Rukh Khan was awarded.The lobby was stronger for Khan and the veteran like Mithun was ignored.His cult-follwing was such that it was said that during a cameo dance sequence in the multi-starrer song from Om Shanti Om,the shooting had to be stopped,because all the crew members behind the camera went crazy and came upfront to gat a glimse of him and see his legendary dance steps.

Biography

Personal life

He was born in Barisal that is now located in Bangladesh and educated at the renowned Scottish Church College in Kolkata, from where he earned his graduate degree in chemistry (BSc). After that he attended and graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.

It is a little known fact that Mithun was a staunch Naxalite before entering the film industry. But tragedy struck his family when his only brother got accidentally electrocuted and killed in a freak accident. Mithun returned to his family and left the Naxalite fold, even though doing so posed a grave risk to his own life from the Naxalites, because this was considered a one-way road . This proved to be a turning point in his life and became one of the prime causes that led to his iconic status. Another lesser known fact is that he had undergone expert training in martial arts.

Mithun always shared a good relation with two of the most popular political leaders of CP(I)M : Shubhas Chakrabarty and Jyoti Basu. When Mr.Chakrabarty passed away, Mithun was broken-hearted like many of the dead’s well-wishers and he took all the pain to walk along the dead body like any other civilian till it reached the crematorium. He had a dream to get Mr.Basu stay at one of his hotels.It was not fulfilled.When the patriarch died, Mithun went to pay his respect to late Mr.Basu.

Mithun is married to Indian actress Yogita Bali and has four children, three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Mimoh Chakraborty is an actor in Bollywood, who made his debut in the 2008 film Jimmy, His second son, Rimoh Chakraborty who is playing Mithun’s younger version the film Phir Kabhi. And Mithun’s other two children Namashi Chakraborty and Dishani Chakraborty are still into their studies.

Numerous sources claim that Chakraborty had a relationship with actress Sridevi from 1986 to 1987, and that Sridevi ended the relationship when she found out that he had not divorced his first wife, Yogita Bali. Chakraborty and Sridevi were believed to have been secretly married and that the union was later annulled.

Film career

Mithun made his film debut in the 1976 Mrinal Sen directed film Mrigaya for which he won the coveted National Film Award for Best Actor. After his debut he played some supporting roles in films such as Do Anjaane (1976) and Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (1977) which did not gain him any recognition. He shot into prominence in the late 1970s with the low budget Ravikant Nagaich directed spy film Surakshaa (1979) and the early 1980s with leading roles in hit films such as Hum Paanch (1980) and Wardaat (1981) (a sequel to Surakshaa).

His breakthrough role finally came in the musical drama Disco Dancer (1982) which was a huge success due to its hit music and remains a cult favorite to this day. This film and other musical films such as Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki (1984) and Dance Dance (1987) showcased him as a talented dancer.

He also starred in a number of successful romantic and family dramas during the 1980s, such as Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye (1983), Pyaar Jhukta Nahin (1985), Swarg Se Sunder (1986), and Pyaar Ka Mandir (1988). These films remain his most commercially successful films to date.

He was widely recognised as an action hero in hit films like Wanted (1983), Boxer (1984), Jagir (1984), Jaal (1986), Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987) Commando (1988), Waqt Ki Awaaz (1988), Guru (1989), Mujrim (1989) and Dushman (1990). During the mid 1980s he was regarded as a rival to Amitabh Bachchan as he did dozens of films in the action and drama genre that showcased him as an angry young man at odds with the ills of society and corruption. This characterization was similar to Bachchan’s one. Likewise, he has worked with some of the biggest actresses of his time and Bollywood in general, like Zeenat Aman, Padmini Kolhapure, Rati Agnihotri, Rekha, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit and more.

Mithun achieved not only commercial success but also tremendous critical acclaim. His performances in Mrigaya, Tahader Katha, Swami Vivekananda, Kalpurush and Titli were widely appreciated and won him National Film Awards and nominations. He also won two Filmfare awards: The Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in the 1990 film Agneepath, and the Filmfare Best Villain Award for his performance in Jallad. Apart from it, he was praised for his performances in films like Pyaar Ka Mandir (1988) and Mujrim (1989).

In the mid ’90s he took a break from Mumbai and relocated to Ooty where he set up his hotel business and literally became a “One Man Industry” for a decade as he starred over 80 plus films over 10 years as he shifted his focus from mainstream Hindi cinema and went into starring in low-budget B-grade movies. These movies were mainly produced to cater to the audiences of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, where Mithun has a cult-following even today. He was the highest tax payer in the country for five consecutive years as well, from 1994 to 1999 in the mean period.

He made a comeback to the mainstream Hindi film industry in 2005 with the film Elaan which was not successful. After a few supporting roles in films such as Lucky: No Time for Love (2005), he was acclaimed for his performance in Kalpana Lazmi’s Chingari (2005). In 2007 he starred in Mani Ratnam’s hit film Guru for which he received much critical acclaim. Guru was the second commercially successful film after Lucky: No Time for Love since his comeback. Mithun has had 9 releases in 2008 including Bengali and Bhojpuri films. His movie Heroes was an above average box office success, and his comic performance was praised in Don Muthu Swami. In 2009, his movie Zor Lagaa Ke…Haiya! won multiple International awards. . Mithunda’s latest releases Soham Shah directed Luck with Sunjay Dutt took a decent opening and settled as Average earner^{[citation needed]}.Chal Chalein was appreciated by critics for its bold theme. His latest release Baabarr has done well in northern Single screens^{[citation needed]}. His Phir Kabhi with Dimple Kapadia had a very successful premiere through direct to home (DTH) in September 2009 and won as many as six awards in as many categories at the Los Angeles Reel Awards-2009. His upcoming films are Zindagi Tere Naam, plus films like Veer with Salman Khan, Raakh, and Kannada flick Manikya

Parallel to his Bollywood career, Mithun Chakraborty had chalked up an array of successful and not-so-successful films in his native Bengali, as well as in realistic or arthouse movies, where his trained acting has resulted in him getting quite a few awards and accolades. Troyee, made in 1982 with Debashree Roy and Anil Chatterjee, was a big success. After the move to Bombay, and his popularity as a star in mainstream Hindi movies, there was a lull in Mithun’s appearances in mainstream Bengali movies, but he continued to appear in arthouse movies like eminent director Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Tahader Katha in 1992 which got him the second National Award in 1993. A third National Award followed in 1995, this time for the Best Supporting Actor , for his awesome portrayal of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, in G V Iyer’s Swami Vivekananda. He also got accolades for Goutam Ghose’s Gudia in 1999. He also appeared in Rituparno Ghosh’s critically and commercially appreciated Titli in 2002, starring with the real-life mother-daughter pair of Aparna Sen and Konkona Sen Sharma. Recently, the Fatakeshto series of popular entertainers have been widely successful in West Bengal. In 2008, he collaborated again with Dasgupta for the critically acclaimed Kaalpurush, with Rahul Bose and Sameera Reddy.

Television Shows

Mithun is the Grand Judge of the show Dance India Dance and Dance Bangla Dance on Zee TV. He is known as Mithunda on Dance India Dance.

Sports

Mithun Chakraborty has also been involved in promotion of Football in his native Bengal. The Bengal Football Academy is his brainchild and Mithun raised the necessary funds for the launch of this academy.

Mithun Chakraborty is also the co-owner of Royal Bengal Tigers, a cricket team of the Indian Cricket League.

Awards

National Film Awards

• 1977 – National Film Awards for Best Actor for Mrigayaa
• 1993 – National Film Awards for Best Actor for Tahader Katha
• 1996 – National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Swami Vivekananda

Filmfare Awards

• 1990 – Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Agneepath
• 1995 – Filmfare Best Villain Award for Jallaad

Star Screen Awards

• 1995 – Star Screen Award Best Villain for Jallaad

Stardust Awards

• 2007 – Stardust Award for Lifetime Achievement [1]
• 2007 – Role Model Of The Year Award [2]

Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards

• 1977 – BFJA Awards, Best Actor for Mrigayaa [3]
• 1995 – BFJA Awards, Best Actor for Tahader Katha [4]

Selected Filmography

• Mrigayaa (1976) – Ghinua
• Do Anjaane (1976) -
• Mere Rakshak (1978) – R. Thyagaraajan
• Surakshaa (1979) – Gunmaster
• Tarana (1979)
• Hum Paanch (1980) – Bhima
• Sitara (1980) – Kundan
• Shaukeen (1981) – Ravi Anand
• Wardaat (1981) – Gunmaster
• Aadat Se Majboor (1981) – Apurba Kishore Bir
• Disco Dancer (1982) – Anil
• Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye (1983)
• Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki (1984)
• Pyaar Jhukta Nahin (1985)
• Ghulami (1985)
• Dance Dance (1987) – Ramu
• Pyaar Ka Mandir (1988) – Vijay
• Waqt ki Awaz (1988)
• Jeete Hain Shaan Se (1988) – Johnny
• Dushman (1990) (1990) – Rakesh
• Agneepath (1990) – Krishnan Iyer
• Dil Aashna Hai (1992) – Sunil
• Dalaal (1993)
• Tadipaar (1993)
• Phool Aur Angaar (1993)
• Jallaad (1995) – Amavas
• Ravan Raaj: A True Story – ACP Arjun Varma
• Loha (1997) – Arjun
• Sahara Jaluchi(Oriya) (1998)
• Yamraaj (1998) – Birju
• Gunda (1998) – Shankar
• Titli (2002) – Rohit Roy
• Elaan (2005) – Baba Sikandar
• Lucky: No Time for Love (2005) – Das Kapoor
• Chingaari (2006) – Bhuvan Panda
• Dil Diya Hai (2006)
• Guru (2007) – Manikdas Gupta
• Hason Raja (2007) – Ruhul Amin
• My Name is Anthony Gonsalves (2008)
• Bhole Shankar (2008) – Shankar – Bhojpuri
• Heroes (2008) – Dr. Naqvi
• Chandni Chowk To China (2008) – Dada
• C Kkompany (2008)
• Luck (2009)
• Phir Kabhi (2009)
• Baabarr (2009)
• Veer (2010)
• Golmaal 3 (2010)