Mithunda uncut...

As Mithun Chakraborty swaggered into a packed room last week, a voice from among those gathered for the premiere of his film, Shukno Lanka, piped up, “He’s still so young!” A compliment for any other 60-plus star, maybe. From Mithunda however, it elicited an incredulous, “I beg your pardon, what do you mean by ‘still’?”
The man’s got a point. After all, to this day, his marbo ekhane, laassh podbe shoshane is able to garner whistles and wows just as his I Am A Disco Dancer did three decades ago.
In town for the premiere of Shukno Lanka, Mithunda was in his element, choosing an apt, “As I’m getting younger day by day...” as his opening line.Essaying the role of a struggling junior artiste in the film, this star knew it would not be easy to play something he’s so far removed from today. “This role is a challenge for me – to come down and break yourself from there to here, you need guts. I could identify with the character so far as my initial days in the film industry are concerned, but the incidents in Shukno Lanka are far harsher than what I experienced in real life,” he said.
He may no longer be struggling for a foothold in the industry, but Mithun’s aware of a different kind of struggle he and his ilk have ahead of them – providing a wider base for Bengali films on the national stage. “I want to do more of meaningful cinema but the problem with such films is that you don’t find distributors. It’s not that actors don’t want to be part of such ventures but people are not coming forward to make these films anymore. Regional fare like Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films have done very well, thanks to the multiplex culture. Now we have to push Bengali films. We’ve been trying to get a national release for Bengali films, but then how many takers are there?” he rued.
Ever willing to champion the cause of Bengali cinema, if there is something Mithunda will never lend his name to, it is his son Mimoh’s career. And with good reason. “He has to fight his own battles, there’s no compromise in that. Vikram Bhatt has liked him. Let’s see what comes out of it. I deliberately don’t want to promote him. Being a superstar’s son might seem all rosy from the outside but only some know the baggage that comes with it.”
Categorising the films he acts in into three groups he says, “I do three kinds of films – the ones that help me make money, the ones that bring me creative satisfaction and the ones that target the gallery – the marbo ekhane, laash podbe shoshane types.”
And he sure is glad he still gets to choose from among all three.