"My son is a much better dancer than me" - Mithun Chakraborty 
By Subhash K. Jha, January 12, 2007 - 06:54 IST
The first thing that strikes you about Mithunda is his warmth and humility. "I'm glad to be around for so long."
Thankfully no one is offering him father and brother roles in Bollywood. "My new release Guru has me directed by Mani Ratnam. Do you know if things had gone well I’d have worked with him long ago. Yes, Mani had offered me a role in his Tamil film Iruvar (which Prashant finally played) which I didn't do because I was required to cut my hair. If I had cut my hair for one film a dozen other producers would've committed suicide. Mani is a filmmaker who has been doing exemplary work for many years."
Mithun is all praise of Mani. "He's an actors' director. He's very clear about what he wants. Whenever I thought I was going wrong, he assured me I was doing fine. Every time I had my doubts I'd run to the monitor to check out my shots. And he was right each time! There was so much to learn from Mani. And I'm not saying that just because I have to. All my young co-stars Abhishek, Aishwarya, Madhavan, and Vidya are lovely to work with…Yes, things have improved technically. The atmosphere is far more cut-throat. The media is far more active today. That makes the stars far more conscious of doing the right things."
He refuses to play the stereotypical father or brother. "If I did any of those my fans in Bengal would be very very unhappy. Over there they still see me as a star or superstar. My recent Bengali films like Hungama are super-hits. Bengali producers would throw a fit if I did fatherly roles in Hindi." Every year Mithun-da does 3-4 Bengali films.
He confesses he moved to Ooty with his family in the 1980s for the sake of his family. “Because I didn't want to die with the actor's shoes on. I've no ambitions to die as an actor. I want to secure my children's future. They shouldn't suffer when I'm not here. My daughter is only 9!"
At the peak of his career Mithun moved to Ooty to do a whole lot of sub-standard films.
"I don't know why you should call them sub-standard," he jumps to defend his movies. "Those were also very big hits, for example Jallad. How do you classify them as A-grade or B-grade? Sure, you can classify them as small-budgeted films. Any actor who doesn't know the economics of filmmaking is bound to flop. You need to know your market value. And if you consider yourself a big star in your head, then you'll fall flat on your face. Just because I'm a big star in Bengal I can't ask for Rs 5 crores in Mumbai. I've to know my exact value. To stay in the business I had to know the market and my own value in and out. That's how those films that you call sub-standard films happened. If I'm still around today it's because I did all those films…big small, good or bad or ugly."
His next Hindi release is Hansal Mehta's Raakh. "It's a mafia story and I play an elder brother’s role. Mithun-da's range extends from Mrinal Sen's Mrigaya and TL.V Prasad's Jallad.”And let's not forget I play Ramkrishna Paramhans which got me my third National award. So I've played everything from Disco Dancer to Jallad to God…Yes, it's been a long journey."
Incidentally Mithun had done a film called Guru in the 1980s. "And I had also done a Guru in Bengali. So this is my third Guru. Both in the past have been very big hits. I'm sure this will be my third successful Guru”… My God! Such a long journey…Any mistakes? “See, the past is a burden that you carry. I don't think it helps you improve on your mistakes. The present and the future are what count. I don't believe in living in the past. Landmarks? The three National award-winning films…then of course Disco Dancer, Pyar Jhutka Nahin, Hum Paanch, Mujrim….These gave me an actor's status and made me very popular."
He warns his fans not to expect the same Mithun that they saw in the past. "There isn't that much footage in Guru for me. But whatever there is, it is very important to the plot." Mithun's son Mimoh is all set to make his debut. "My son's film Jimmy should be ready by March; the title comes from one of my hit songs. Mimoh is not at all like me, he's his own person. And he's a much better dancer than I am. Don't believe me? Watch him when he comes on screen”.
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