In and of itself, Gouranga Chakraborty’s path to disco dancer Mithun has been nothing short of a Bollywood tale. There is emotion, failure, struggle, and delicious success in Mithun Chakraborty’s story. The characteristic of Bollywood is also evident in the twists of Mithun drama.
It sounds like a Bollywood potboiler going from the periphery stream to the mainstream, from being a “footpather” to becoming the nation’s top taxpayer, etc. Mithun Chakraborty is a character who has all the twists and turns of a movie.
It’s time to have a biography of this well-known figure since the Indian government honored the hardworking celebrity with the third-highest honor in the nation, the Padma Bhushan, with graceful movements and thrilling action sequences.
Examining Mithun’s path to become a “Disco Dancer”
Not everything about the light, movement, and clap for Mithun was brilliant.
In his early days, a lot of well-known actors and directors made fun of his dark complexion. Even after ascending to such lofty heights, he was dubbed a B-grade celebrity, Czar of C-grade, and other such titles by a diverse group of people in B’town.
Everything collapsed like a deck of cards. In the 1980s, Mithun Chakraborty ruled Bollywood due to his immense popularity among the populace. He also earned the moniker “poor man’s Amitabh Bachchan,” which refers to the small-time producers and filmmakers who took a chance on him and made a lot of money in BO but couldn’t pay Big B.
This “so-called” B-grade star, the Czar of C-grade Movies, the poor man’s Amitabh, John Travolta’s equivalent in India, etc. He has been called a failure many times, but he has persevered through it all. When Mithun made a rare appearance at the launch festivities in Mumbai, the media person rushed towards him, ignoring a galaxy of stars that included Amitabh, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, and others. Other stars came back with such force. After returning to the glitzy town, he received proposals from prominent directors and banners in a matter of weeks (mid-1980s).
Mithun’s professional career began
Mithun began his acting career in Mrigya, where he played a young Aadivasi (tribal) man. He won the National Award for Best Actor, but the mainstream media ignored him and he struggled to make ends meet. He once requested a reporter who came to interview him to pay for his lunch before agreeing to do the interview.
The Disco Dancer’s birth…
However, the situation was altered in “Surakshaa” when he imitated western dancing stars on TV. He had offers to play similar roles in a number of movies. Disco Dancer, Dance Dance, Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki, and more singles were popular during this time. Mithun became known as the ‘National Dancing Sensation’ thanks to it.
Mithun Chakraborty is largely responsible for the word “disco,” and vice versa. Disco Hair Cutting Saloon to Disco Tailors crowded the streets. However, one of the biggest successes of that era, “Pyar Jhukta Nahin,” by K.C. Bokadia, shot him to stardom.
Examining Mithun’s career reveals an intriguing fact: he broke through in the industry without the support of major directors or banners, during a time when Rajesh Khanna and Big B were both active stars. He was never associated with Prakash Mehra, Yash Chopra, or Subhash Ghai. No celebrity nowadays could dream of such extraordinary success when collaborating with indie filmmakers. The “so-called” B-grade directors became A-grade directors after Mithun changed everything.
The Disco Dancer’s Ascent
The career graphs of B.Subhash, K. Bappiah, Bapu, and TLV Prasad all increased in tandem with Mithun’s. Mithun is arguably one of the few well-known performers who has had success in both independent and mainstream cinema. “Tahedar Katha” won him his second National Award, while “Swami Vivekanad” took him his third. He gave arguably the best performance of his career as Ram Krishna Paramhansa in Swami Vivekanand.
An analysis of India’s “Swami Vivekananda” Today suggested that film because of Mithun’s outstanding performance. Filmmakers like Maniratnam announced collaborations with him as a result of the film. Maniratnam revealed the multi-star, bilingual, high-budget film Anandam, which stars Mammootty, Aishwarya Rai, and Mithun in the key roles. A.R. Rahman served as the music director.
Nevertheless, Mithun declined the part since it required him to shave his head for the film, and he was filming other commercial productions at the time. People like Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor, who were both at the height of their careers at the time, applied for the role after he turned it down. However, Maniratnam put the project on hold.
His films, such as Gudiya and Titli, won awards at all the major international cinema festivals. He came close to winning his fourth National Award for the film Gudiya. Both his acting prowess and commercial acumen are above reproach. He was unable to control others, though, and he was unable to send unqualified actors to high-profile roles. He developed his own set of guidelines.
Rising Star of the Millennium: Mithun Chakraborty!
The biggest celebrity in Indian cinema, Mithun Chakraborty, is unmatched in popularity in Russia, Africa, and many other nations. Disco Dancer’s phenomenal success catapulted him to stardom. The song “Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, Aaja, Aaja, Aaja…” became the most popular song in Russia and a few other nations. Russians are more familiar with him as Jimmy, the role he performed in Disco Dancer. In Russia throughout the 1980s, Mithun rose to fame. Russia used to be ruled by Hindi cinema because Hollywood films were forbidden.
A tale from the late 1980s illustrates the extent of Disco Dancer’s popularity in Russia. Amitabh Bachchan was presented by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as the “biggest superstar in India” during the visit of then-USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev. “But my daughter only knows Mithun Chakraborty,” Gorbachev retorted.
The Soviet Union saw a lot of other Bollywood films, such as Raj Kapoor’s Awaara and Rishi Kapoor’s Bobby and Barood, but none of them was as popular as Disco Dancer. Disco Dancer made an astounding $76 million in revenue in the Soviet Union in 1984 when it was released in theaters there. After accounting for inflation, that comes to about $180 million. According to a 2018 analysis by The Indian, it is still, by a significant margin, the highest-grossing foreign film in the Soviet Union.
