Dismissed as ‘gareebon ka Amitabh Bachchan’ and shamed for his skin colour; he became Bollywood’s biggest star of the 80s

Mithun had once told journalist Ali Peter John in an interview, “People in the industry and outside it knew all about my involvement with the Naxalite movement in Calcutta and my close links with Charu Mazumdar, the fiery leader of the Naxalites. I had quit the movement after there was a tragedy in my family, but the label of being a Naxalite moved with me wherever I went, whether it was the FTII in Pune or when I came to Bombay in the late seventies.”

Legendary actor Mithun Chakraborty. (Express archive photo)

Mithun Chakraborty ragged Shakti Kapoor during FTII days

After his brother’s death, Mithun disappeared for a while, only to re-emerge after cracking admission into India’s most prestigious film school, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), where he trained as a professional actor. Shakti Kapoor, who was Mithun’s junior at the institute, once shared an incident from their FTII days when Mithun ragged him so much that he cried. On the Timeout with Ankit podcast, Shakti recalled how Mithun cut his hair and locked him in a room at night.

He shared, “He entered college as a hero. Let’s cut his hair.’ They grabbed a pair of scissors and cut my hair. I was looking like a monkey. I started crying, touched their feet. They took me to the swimming pool and told me to do 40 laps. I started crying and then they gave me a break.”

Mithun Chakraborty slept on footpaths during his struggling days

Mithun made his Bollywood debut with Mrigayaa, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mrinal Sen. But before this break, he faced years of intense struggle. From sleeping on an empty stomach to spending nights on footpaths, Mithun’s journey is a true rags-to-riches story.

He once recalled his hardships on the singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs. He said, “I have seen days when I had to sleep with an empty stomach, and I used to cry myself to sleep. In fact, there were days when I had to think about what my next meal will be, and where I will go to sleep. I have also slept on the footpath for a lot of days.”

Bollywood icons Mithun Chakraborty and Shabana Azmi on the sets of Hum Paanch. (Express archive photo)

‘My life story won’t inspire but break people’: Mithun

“And that’s the only reason I don’t want my biopic to be ever made! My story will never inspire anyone, it will break them down (mentally) and discourage people from achieving their dreams. I don’t want that to happen! If I can do it, anyone else can do it. I have fought a lot to prove myself in this industry. I am not legendary because I have given hit movies, I am a legend because I have surpassed all the pains and struggles of my life,” he added.

Producer asked me to get out: Mithun

While most actors work for years before receiving their first National Award, Mithun bagged the honour for his very first film, Mrigayaa. But this success made him overconfident, which eventually harmed his career.

In an interview with India Today, he recalled, “After Mrigayaa, I got my first National Award. Jo hota hai, I started acting like Al Pacino. Aisa lag raha tha that I am the greatest actor. As it happens, I started acting like Al Pacino. It felt like I was the greatest actor. My attitude changed, so the producer saw this and said, ‘get out.’ Then I realised my mistake.” Apart from his own mistakes, Mithun also faced severe discrimination because of his skin colour, which pushed him into doing small roles or leads in low-budget films.

Mithun facing colour discrimination and becoming common man’s hero

The actor once recalled losing projects because of his complexion. He said, “I was always called out for my skin colour. I have been disrespected for a lot of years because of my skin colour…”

While fans remember Mithun as the king of dance moves, not many know that he honed his dancing skills to divert attention from his appearance. Mithun developed a unique style that won over audiences and redefined stardom. In an interview with Radio Nasha, Mithun said, “I thought that if I danced with my legs, nobody would see my colour and that happened. My dance made people forget my colour. Nobody imagined a hero with my colour. I used to feel very bad and I used to cry.”

He added, “Looking at me, people’s expectations increased and they thought that even my son can become an actor despite living in a chawl or village. I became a common man’s hero. It was a very big thing for me to become a superstar of a common man.”

Big stars refused to work with Mithun

In an old interaction, Mithun also revealed how many A-listers refused to work with him in the early days of his career because of his looks. He said, “Nobody wanted to work with me because I am not an acceptable hero. Working with me would not get them fame and that’s why nobody wanted to work with me.”

Mithun Chakraborty had expressed thanks to Zeenat Aman for joining forces in Taqdeer. (Photo: Express Archives)

Zeenat Aman rescued Mithun’s career

Despite proving himself, Mithun struggled to be counted among the A-list actors. However, at this crucial stage, Zeenat Aman, an A-lister at that time, came to Mithun’s rescue. She readily agreed to star opposite him in filmmaker Brij Sadanah’s Taqdeer, officially introducing Mithun as a fellow A-list Bollywood hero. “It was Zeenat ji who broke the jinx. Zeenat ji had the status of the number 1 heroine of that time, so following her footsteps, every other actress started saying yes to the films that I worked in. With Taqdeer’s release, I became an A-category actor,” he shared on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

Three years after the release of Mrigayaa (1976), Mithun saw another breakthrough with the 1979 spy thriller Surakshaa. The film laid the foundation for his superstardom in the ’80s, which was further cemented by blockbusters like Disco Dancer, Dance Dance, Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki, and Commando. Over the years, he went on to bag two more National Awards for Tahader Katha (1992) and Swami Vivekananda (1998). Most recently, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the 70th National Film Awards in 2024.