Dada embraced by the Dada (Saheb Phalke Award)

As the Government announced the decision to confer Mithun Chakraborty with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, one was drowned in an ocean of cocktail of memories, nostalgia and images surrounding the news and the actor. Most of the time, one sees a monochromatic unidimensional image about a personality when one visualises that person’s life and body of work. But Mithun Chakraborty is not one of the unidimensional personalities. He has never been a prisoner of a box of pre set images and journeys. He has been multifaceted in true sense, both in terms of the craft and talent as well as the spirit with which he has lived and pursued his life and the courses he has charted for himself.

Read | Mithun Chakraborty to be Honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award: A Glimpse into his Journey from 'Rags to Riches'

Today, it is impossible to dissect and analyse every trait, every drift and every path Mithun Chakraborty has taken in his long illustrious career. It is tough to figure out how the kid born in a non filmi middle class Bengali family transformed from a reticent, introvert Gouranga to the hysteria generating mass adulated Mithun Da.  It is not easy to figure out when and where the journey of that lanky, lean, dark kid with unconventional looks, a degree in Chemistry from Scottish Church College found solace in the Naxal movement led by Ravi Ranjan. It is equally difficult to make out how that revolutionary once again made a dramatic course correction to set out on a journey towards Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. Now hold on ! The diversity and unpredictability of Mithun Chakraborty’s career didn’t turn mundane and formulaic even after the final call he took regarding his profession. It continued to remain exciting, thrilling and full of twists and turns like most of the movies he chose in his life. Once he bagged his first movie, Mrinal Sen’s masterpiece, “Mrigayaa” in 1976, one expected the 26 years old talented actor would be reduced to an art house icon, needing the cocoon of the art house movie makers to be clubbed in the same bracket as legendary actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri in terms of recognition in the classy circuit, but without fame or fees to run a glamorous lifestyle. The threat/temptation to embrace that option and accept it as part of fate or destiny became more evident after he won the National Award for his awesome performance. But he had one quality that none before and very few after him had, the same quality that had helped him to stand tall and move forward while making every decision with his life and that is the confidence to break stereotypes and smash the glass ceiling. It is that audacity and self belief that helped him to blow up an image of an art house actor. So there he was, within 3 years of “Mrigayaa” and a few forgettable flicks, setting Bollywood on fire as Gunmaster G9 in “Surakshaa”. He was the ultimate action hero and favourite of the masses. His every action sequence, pelvic movement made the masses go crazy. But he was not content to sit tight with that image either. He was on a roll. He was on a mission like Alexander the great to win every battle of perception and every section of movie buffs by proving his mettle in every genre. He picked up “Taraana” to prove he could win a million hearts and earn adulation from women fans with love, romance and chartbuster music. From then on, there was no looking back. He could mesmerise the critics with his masterclass in acting in “Tahader Katha”, “Swami Vivekananda”, “Jaag Utha Insaan” and in the same vein could generate mass hysteria with his pelvic thrusting moves in “Wardat”, “Disco dancer”, “Dance Dance” and “Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki”. That was not all. He could effortlessly touch millions of cinegoers with unforgettable performances in blockbusters like “Pyaar Jhukta Nahin”, “Ghar Ek Mandir”, “Ghulami”, “Swarg Se Sundar” , “Pati, Patni Aur Tawaif”, “Agneepath”….the list goes on and on. In a profession where, an actor feels great if he manages to find his face on a movie poster once in his life, here was an artist, without a Godfather, mentor, coterie, conventional looks or voice, coming from a land which was known for great directors and actresses, but never for a male superstar and managing to create his own legacy, fandom with around 350 movies, that includes his forays into the world of Bollywood, Bengali, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bhojpuri cinema. Mithun Chakraborty’s legacy and achievements are much beyond the 3 National and 2 Filmfare awards or the record he had set by signing 19 movies in 1989.  His legacy and achievements lie in his journey, the choices he has made right through that journey and his ability to create a benchmark and contribute to the world of cinema by inspiring countless aspiring artists to dream big, be brave in life and be ready to trust instincts, talent and versatility for taking risks in terms of career. 

Today, when the Govt decided to confer Dada, as the nation fondly calls him, with the Dadasaheb Phalke award, one is sure, it was as much to recognise his contribution to inspire the artistic fraternity and future generation with a magic formula/Mantra for success as it is for the gigantic body of his work and the joy he has provided to millions of cine buffs with his work. “Koi Shaq”? Take a bow Mithun Da!

By: Ambika Prasad Mahapatra