German Red Indian

“When I began acting in movies in the 60s,almost all movies in the GDR (German Democratic Republic) were being made by the DEFA studios. The movies then were all anti-capitalist in nature. Hence,even in the Red Western series of movies,I always acted as the Indian and not as a white settler,” he says in fluent German.

Mitic was born in Serbia,and confesses that he doesn’t have much clue as to how the film industry is currently shaping up there. “At least they are making movies now,” he laughs. “Most people in Serbia back then were not making movies. They were just trying to live.”

His entire career has been based in Germany. He says that acting happened to him when a few German producers saw him as a student and asked him to act. “A total of 12 Red Western movies happened in the GDR during the mid-sixties to the mid-eighties,and I acted in them. Although I think the film industry there has really opened up post the unification. Audiences have matured and they are going to see movies that were made between 1946 and 1990 (when Germany was divided). That is a very good thing for the country and its people,” he says.

Mitic hopes that he will get to act in the Indian film industry some day. “I remember how people went crazy when Shah Rukh Khan was in Germany recently. Indian films are popular there,especially with the younger audiences. I hope to do the same here. In fact a director from Trivandrum,I keep forgetting his name,had even called me to work with him a few days back. Hopefully something will come out of it,” he says.