Explained: With Dadasaheb Phalke, a look at the Mithun Chakraborty phenomenon in the USSR and China

Chakraborty’s trademark dance moves and anti-establishment heroes have also resonated globally, particularly in the erstwhile Soviet Union (now Russia) and China. Here’s why.

‘I am a disco dancer’: How it all began

Chakraborty is the only lead actor to have won the National Award for his debut film Mrigayaa (1976), an art-house directorial from Mrinal Sen. He soon found commercial and popular success too, through B Subhash’s Disco Dancer in 1982. It became the first Indian film to earn Rs 100 crore worldwide, and its album, composed by Bappi Lahiri, remains a party fixture to date.

Songs such as ‘Jimmy Jimmy’, ‘I am a Disco Dancer’, ‘Koi Yahan Naache Naache’ and ‘Yaad Aa Raha Hai’ were novel in India at the time, derived from the Disco genre which emerged in the United States in the 1970s. They became the rage among Indian youth, with Mithun as the hero of those soundtracks.

The success of Disco Dancer in USSR

Outside of India, Disco Dancer was a sensational hit in the erstwhile Soviet Union as well, becoming the highest-grossing foreign film in the USSR. Its release reportedly created a stampede-like situation in Tajikistan, with one person being killed in the rush.

Media historian Sudha Rajagopalan, in her book Leave Disco Dancer Alone: Indian Cinema and Soviet Movie-going after Stalin, wrote: “Disco Dancer (Disco Dancer/Tantsor Disko) became a landmark film in the Soviet Union… with its disco music and tall strapping nimblefooted hero won adoring audiences in the Soviet Union in the eighties…”

It even found its way into India-USSR diplomatic relations. An often-quoted anecdote recalls how when USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev visited India in 1986, the then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan to him as “the biggest superstar in India”, to which Gorbachev replied: “But my daughter only knows Mithun Chakraborty”.

With the absence of Hollywood and Western European media and art due to the Cold War, Bollywood films often had an almost-monopolistic sway over the Soviet youth. Leaders of the newly independent India, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, also admired the Soviet Union, easing bilateral collaborations and cultural exchanges.

However, the success of Indian films was due to other factors too, such as the songs, the depiction of a unique culture, and happy endings to stories. Indian films’ vast distribution network also helped it hold its own space, Rajagopalan wrote.

But even by those standards, Disco Dancer captured the popular culture of the USSR like nothing before — even today, fans of Chakraborty, music producer Bappi Lahiri, and the film can be found in Russia. In fact, when Lahiri passed away in 2022, his obituary in this paper concluded with the lines: “If one were to visit Russia and sing ‘Jimmy jimmy’ today, the reply from the locals may well be ‘Aaja aaja’. That’s the impact he leaves behind.”

The Mithun fandom in USSR

Mithun, along with actors such as Raj Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan, gained popularity by offering a new kind of hero to Soviet audiences.

“Actors like Dharmendra and Mithun Chakraborty… were remembered as ‘real men’ who were not only easy on the eye, but also played heroes who were attentive towards their elders and not embarrassed to demonstrate affection for the people in their lives. For Soviet viewers the physical glamour of Indian stars was enhanced by their typical on-screen characterisations; Indian stars became icons that combined ostentation and glamour with modesty, restraint and empathy, which many of their Soviet admirers considered to be appropriate values,” Rajagopalan wrote.

In a display of loyalty, some fans also called themselves “Mithunists” and “Bachchanists”. “Fans wrote letters [to journals and publications] that were typically exuberant expressions of adoration for the star and curiosity about any information connected to his persona. For instance, Natasha Ol’shanskaia, Marina Pavlichenko, Sveta Sergeeva and 20 others wrote a letter, which the editor claimed was only one in a flood of letters about Mithun. These viewers were eager to know about Mithun’s personal life and ‘urged’ editors to provide the information they desired,” she wrote.

The Mithun impact in China

Along with the USSR, Disco Dancer also became a blockbuster in China, decades before the country emerged as a major market for Bollywood films. Again, restrictions on Western media in the Communist country played a role.

In 2022, the song ‘Jimmy Jimmy’ became a way to register dissent. In Mandarin, ‘Jie mi, Jie mi‘ translates to “Give me rice”. Videos of people mouthing the song and holding empty rice vessels, highlighting the shortage of rice and other essentials during the strict Covid-19 lockdowns, went viral. Due to the immense popularity of the song itself, the videos managed to escape the Chinese government censors.