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Mithun Chakraborty returns to his roots on the eve of his 58th birthday.
At 58 today, when his son Mimoh is ready to debut in Bollywood, Mithun Chakraborty continues to remain a superstar despite his many years in cinema’s wilderness.
BT met up with the dark and still ruggedly handsome actor in Matunga of all places on the eve of his birthday. Matunga was Mithun’s stamping grounds in the Swinging Seventies , when he was a National Award winner for his sensitive portrayal of a tribal in Mrinal Sen’s Mrigaaya , but still a struggler by Bollywood’s standards. He is still something of the people’s hero in this predominantly South Indian area. And people recognise him instantly the moment he steps outside his car near the Matunga Railway Station and market. “Sapno ko dil se dekho aur takdeer tumhara saath degi,” mumbles Mithun in some flashback to the distant past.

He points out to a building called Sunny Side. “That’s where I used to live as a paying guest,” he says nostalgically. “I used to pay Rs 75 for a roof over my head but had to sleep on the floor. One day a rat bit my toe and it bled. Next day, I had to limp for miles to reach a recording studio in Sion. I used to eat off the streets, Bangda Fry for one rupee, and I became a member of the Matunga Gymkhana only because I could have a bath there.” But clearly, the boy from Bengal must have been Destiny’s child; how else could he have achieved stardom and fortune in the days when Amitabh Bachchan was champion and Vinod Khanna contender at the box office?
Mithun’s formula was a mix of action and dance. And he succeeded between the late 70s and early 80s by incorporating his incredible dancing skills and knowledge of the martial arts to pull of such terrible films as Suraksha , Disco Dancer , Boxer , Commando , Unnees Bees and Kasam Paida Karne Wale which otherwise would have flopped in opening week itself. “Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson, they were my inspiration,” Mithun recalls.
These action-dance dramas made Mithun a serious rival to Amitabh in the mid-1980 s especially since the Bengali babu excelled at picking up the angry-young-man-at-oddswith-society roles from where Amitabh left them. But he also made romantic and family dramas such as Pyaar Jhukta Nahin in 1985 opposite actress Padmini Kolhapure. “She is a close friend even today. And so is Ranjita,” says Mithun of his former leading ladies.
What’s his lifestyle at 58, does the disco dancer go partying often? “I don’t celebrate my birthday. I am an introvert. I don’t party late nights. I have been to only two pubs in my life. But I exercise daily and practise martial arts to keep my body and mind agile. You will see me in action again in a small role in My Name is Anthony Gonsalves.” Of his son, Mithun says, “Mimoh will overtake me as a dancer but as an actor he will have his own struggle. Stardom is not just about adulation. It is also about pain. Every Friday, an actor’s budget comes out. And long ago, even I used to develop fever on Fridays.”