Mithun Chakraborty started ‘walking, talking’ like Al Pacino after winning National Award for Mrigya; producer removed him for his attitude

During his appearance on Comedy Nights With Kapil, Mithun shared, “I never thought that I could ever become a hero, ek toh mera rang aisa, Bengali aadmi hun, theek se bol nahi paata tha (my complexion is such, I am Bengali, I could not speak properly). Mrinal Sen got to know that there is a boy who has got a good physique, so he made me a tribal boy and I even won a National award. But after that, I became Al Pacino. I started thinking there is no bigger actor than me.”

However, Mithun Chakraborty’s attitude didn’t sit well with producers of other films and one of them even removed him from his movie. Without revealing the name of the producer or the film, the 73-year-old actor shared, “So, the producer thought I don’t need this Al Pacino, and said, ‘nikaal isko’ (remove him).”

It was the moment when Mithun realised the difference between commercial and artsy films. He added, “That is when I understood, that there is a difference between artsy films and commercial films. If you have to become a star, then behave like a star. That is when I thought about dancing and decided I will play the dancing villain but life changed and I became a disco dancer.”

After getting recognition for his acting talent in Mrigayaa (1976), it was the 1979 spy thriller Surakshaa that established Mithun’s stardom in the 80s. He went on to star in blockbusters like Disco Dancer, Dance Dance, Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki and Commando among others.