Gouranga Chakraborty, better known by his stage name Mithun Chakraborty, informally referred to as Mithun Da, is an Indian film actor, singer, producer, writer, social worker, entrepreneur and a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the art house drama Mrigayaa (1976), for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor.
He began as a dancer and went on to establish himself as a popular actor, particularly recognized for his role as the street dancer Jimmy in the 1982 Bollywood movie Disco Dancer. He also attracted worldwide audiences, particularly in the former Soviet Union where he became a household name for his role in Disco Dancer. He later won two more National Film Awards for his performances in Tahader Katha (1992) & Swami Vivekananda (1998). Chakraborty has appeared in about 350 films including Bengali, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Telugu and Punjabi pictures.
Chakraborty owns the Monarch Group, which has interests in the hospitality sector and educational sector. He has also started the production house Paparatzy Productions He is the Chairperson of Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union which take care the welfare of cine workers and resolve their demands and problems. The Television show Dance India Dance where Chakraborty is the Grandmaster has already entered in Limca Book of Records and Guinness World Records Chakraborty played a crucial role of mediator between Pranab Mukherjee and Mamata Banerjee, winning the Congressman the support of the Trinamool chief in the 2012 presidential election.
A comic book named Jimmy Zhingchak also has been made based on Chakraborty.
Early life and education
He was educated at the renowned Scottish Church College in Kolkata, from where he earned his degree in Chemistry. After that he attended and graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He was a Naxalite before entering films, but tragedy struck his family when his only brother was electrocuted and killed in a freak accident. He returned to his family and left the Naxalite fold, even though this posed a grave risk to his own life. During his days as a Naxalite, he became friends with Ravi Ranjan, a popular Naxal figure, known to his friends as 'Bhaa' (the ultimate savior). Bhaa was known for his manipulational skills and oratory abilities. He had also undergone expert training in martial arts to the grade of black belt that made him excel in fight sequences.
Film career
1970s
Mithun Chakraborty made his debut in the 1976 Mrinal Sen-directed film Mrigaya, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. His film Mera Rakshak was a success of 1978. Chakraborty rose to stardom with the low budget Ravikant Nagaich directed spy film Surakshaa, released in 1979. The film was so successful, that many movies starring Chakraborty in the lead role were launched. The combination with director Deepak Bahry also happened for the first time in 1979 with Tarana. Another important film for Chakraborty in the late 70s was Prem Vivah, directed by Basu Chatterjee.
1980s
Chakraborty had over 110 releases in the 1980s. Disco Dancer released in 1982, became a blockbuster and made Chakraborty a star. He had also done lighter roles in Shaukeen, Sun Sajna and Aamne Samne. As Amitabh Bachchan moved to politics, Chakraborty became Bollywood' s second highest paid star after Bachchan. He also became India's highest tax payer in 1986. Chakraborty went on to star in a number of romantic and family dramas during the 1980s, such as Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye, Ghar Ek Mandir, Pyaar Jhukta Nahin, Swarag Se Sunder and Pyaar Ka Mandir. These films remain his most commercially successful films to date. He was also widely recognized as an action hero in films like Jagir, Jaal, Dilwaala, Watan Ke Rakhwale and Waqt Ki Awaz. His performances never won any award in 1986 and 1987 as Filmfare Awards was never announced due to technical reasons. As Chakraborty always had higher number of releases, sometimes it affected the business of his own films as happened in 1989, where he had a record 19 films.
1990s
Chakraborty had another 100 plus releases in this decade too, starting with Agneepath which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Films like Shandaar,Gunahon Ka Devta, Pyar Ka Devta,Trinetra and Mere Sajana Saath Nibhana followed. In 1992, the critically acclaimed Bengali film Tahader Katha won him his second National Film Award for Best Actor. In this period he decided to take a break from Mumbai. He shifted his entire family to Ooty and he constructed The Monarch Hotel. Chakraborty then decided to do movies only to be shot at Ooty and nearby locations and he provided discount rates to the film crew to stay in his hotel as well. This strategy paid off as numerous films starring Chakraborty was launched every week, so he shifted his focus from mainstream Hindi cinemas to low-budget movies. Dalaal was released followed by other low-budget films like Phool Aur Angaar, Ravan Raaj: A True Story and Shapath, which created a market for low budget productions.
Jallad won him the Filmfare Best Villain Award and Star Screen Award Best Villain for the year 1995. His economical film production was popular as Mithun's Dream Factory. Even he could not do Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar as his character had to crop his hair, which would have affected his other 15 films at that time. By this time, Chakraborty held the record for appearing in the most number of Hindi films as a hero. A third National Award followed in 1998, this time for the Best Supporting Actor, for his portrayal of, in G. V. Iyer's Swami Vivekananda. Once again the overdose of Chakraborty releases affected the business as 1998 and 1999 itself had almost 30 releases. Meantime, he paid more tax than anyone else in the country in the mean period for 5 continuous years, from 1995 to 1999. This decade proved Chakraborty as a businessman more than a star as low-budget filmmakers were given their due by Mithun. He operates hotels in Mudhumalai and Ooty in Tamil Nadu, Darjeeling, Siliguri and Kolkata.
2000s
Mithun's Dream Factory films still continued to hold the audiences, moreover he started doing more Bengali films and gave consistent films like Titli, Guru, Barood, Yuddho, Tulkalam and Rehmat Ali. Chakraborty also made a comeback to the mainstream Hindi film industry in 2005 with the film Elaan. After a few supporting roles in films such as Lucky: No Time for Love (2005) and Dil Diya Hai (2006), he starred in Mani Ratnam's film Guru. He was also acclaimed for his villainous role in Kalpana Lajmi's Chingaari (2005). His 2009 movie Zor Lagaa Ke...Haiya! won multiple International awards and Chal Chalein was appreciated by critics for its bold theme. Critically acclaimed Phir Kabhi with Dimple Kapadia had a première through a direct to home (DTH) release in September 2009 and won as many as six awards in as many categories at the Los Angeles Reel Awards 2009.
2010s
Chakraborty's recent films include Veer (2010) with Salman Khan, Golmaal 3 (2010) with Ajay Devgn and in 2012, he did 3 films with Akshay Kumar, Housefull 2, OMG â€" Oh My God! and Khiladi 786. His home production Enemmy (2013) was with his own son Mimoh Chakraborty and actor Sunil Shetty. He also did Anthony D'Souza's Boss (2013) with Akshay Kumar. His first release of 2014 Kaanchi... directed by Subhash Ghai where he played an evil politician wearing facial prosthetics has won him critical acclaim.
His latest release Kick with Salman Khan is a blockbuster hit and has shattered all previous records and earned more than 375 crores worldwide making it in number 3 position of all time Bollywood grossers history. Entertainment and Hawaizaada with Akshay Kumar and Ayushmann Khurrana respectively has been released and his forthcoming release is Bhaiyyaji Superhitt with Sunny Deol & Preity Zinta.
Regional films
Parallel to his Bollywood career, Mithun Chakraborty has also worked in Bengali commercial films as well as in realistic or arthouse movies including Troyee, made in 1982. He appeared in director Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Tahader Katha which got him his second National Award in 1992. Chakraborty occasionally did Bengali films like Anyay Abichar, Swarna Trishna and Jiban Yuddha, but after 2000, he has concentrated more in Bengali films. He also appeared in Goutam Ghose's Gudia in 1999 as well as Rituparno Ghosh's Titli in 2002. In 2008, he collaborated again with Buddhadeb Dasgupta for Kaalpurush and later appeared in films Shukno Lanka and Target: The Final Mission. His performances in Mrigaya, Tahader Katha, Kaalpurush and Titli won him National Film Awards and nominations. His debut Bhojpuri film Bhole Shankar is considered as the biggest Bhojpuri film. Similarly his Oriya film Ae Jugara Krushna Sudama where he co-starred with Oriya icon Uttam Mohanty was also a huge success. The last Bengali hits for Chakraborty are Handa and Bhonda, Nobel Chor and Le Halwa Le. His new Bengali films are Buddhuram Dhol Duniya Gol and the science fiction Jole Jongole with White Mischief
Chakraborty is also doing a bi-lingual in Tamil and Telugu. Its Tamil title is Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka. He is also enacting the lead role in Debaditya Bandopadhyay's Bengali film Nakshal, moreover the long delayed Hason Raja has been resumed and Chakraborty is paired opposite Raima Sen.
His Telugu language film Gopala Gopala with Daggubati Venkatesh, Shriya Saran, Pawan Kalyan and Bengali film Herogiri along with actor Dev has been released successfully.
Television
After the success of the Bengali competitive dance reality show Dance Bangla Dance, Mithun Chakraborty developed the concept of Dance India Dance, an Indian dance competition show that airs on Zee TV in the India, produced by UTV Software Communications and has become India's largest dance-based reality show. The contestants get a chance to perform before a panel of judges composed of Terrence Lewis, Remo D'Souza and Geeta Kapoor. The selection of the season's Top 18 live show finalists are overseen by head judge Mithun Chakraborty. The show has won several Television Awards for Most Popular Dance Reality Show. Chakraborty is also the Grand Master for Dance India Dance Li'l Masters as well as the host of the reality show titled Dadagiri Unlimited on Zee Bangla channel. He replaced Sourav Ganguly as the host of the show. Chakraborty hosted the Bengali version of Bigg Boss and now he is hosting Rannaghore Rockstar on ETV Bangla.
Political career
Mithunda joined as Member of Parliament after he was nominated to be the candidate for the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament elections by the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee for her All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal Rajya Sabha Assembly Polls which was held on February 7, 2014
Brand Ambassador
Chakraborty was the ambassador of Panasonic electronics for India, back in late 80's. Now he is the face of GoDaddy, an internet domain registrar and web-hosting company He was also the face of Channel 10, a unit of Bengal Media Pvt. Ltd. owned by Saradha Media Group and he later said "Saradha didn't pay my dues" as its branch Saradha Chit Fund collapsed. Chakraborty is also the face of Manappuram Gold Loan for West Bengal state.
Personal life
During the 1980s, Chakraborty had an affair with Sridevi. Sridevi had fallen in love with Chakraborty on the set of Rakesh Roshan's Jaag Utha Insan. Chakraborty and Sridevi grew close. But when Yogeeta Bali, Chakraborty’s wife, got to know about the affair she said that she would never leave Chakraborty. Sridevi and Chakraborty married secretly and Chakraborty later admitted it to the press after a fan magazine published their marriage certificate. Yogeeta Bali overdosed on sedatives, after which Chakraborty returned to her. Sridevi drifted closer to Boney Kapoor. Mona Kapoor, Boney's first wife, later recalled in a Savvy cover story that at one stage, Sridevi had even tied a rakhi on Boney’s wrist to prove to Chakraborty that it was only a platonic relationship.
Chakraborty is married to Yogeeta Bali and has four children. Mimoh, who is an actor, Rimoh, Namashi and Dishani.
Selected filmography
Mithun Chakraborty filmography
Awards and honours
List of awards and nominations received by Mithun Chakraborty
In popular culture
- The title character of the comic book Jimmy Zhingchak is a parody of Mithun Chakraborty.
- The 2010 film Golmaal 3 also parodies Chakraborty’s film career as a dancing star. The film even has the songs Disco Dancer and Yaad Aa Raha Hai which were in the film Disco Dancer.
- In the 2011 film Delhi Belly, Aamir Khan parodies Chakraborty in the song I Hate You (Like I Love You) dressed as 'Disco Fighter'.
Books on Mithun Chakraborty
References
External links
- Mithun Chakraborty at the Internet Movie Database
- Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty's item number!
- Mithun Chakraborty rocks it
- Mithun Da wins over cine workers' hearts
- Mithun Chakraborty, the professional
- Mithun recalls struggle