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Today even a Sushmita Sen, not really brilliant actress herself, finds Mithun Chakraborty unprepared on the sets and is able to overshadow him in Chingari and the kind of small budget films that run in interiors he does are called Mithun type films but the guy got a national award for best actor in his very first film!
The dark, lanky Naxalite from Calcutta, Mithun Chakraborty was escaping from his pursuers as an acting student when Mrinal Sen spotted him and signed him to play a tribal in 'Mrigaya' (1976). It won him a National Award for his performance. The award, however, was not enough to get work. Chakraborty's struggle continued as he did bit roles in films like 'Do Anjane'. His actual success began with 'Suraksha' (1979) and crystallized with 'Disco Dancer' (1982).
His unbuttoned shirt, skintight bell-bottoms and pelvic thrusts became his trade marks as he gyrated his way into the hearts of millions. When someone objected to his pelvic thrusts, he countered, "Wasn't Elvis called Elvis the Pelvis? Why is it okay if he does it and not okay if I do?".
The film which won him respectability as an artiste was 'Hum Paanch' (1981). Later, he also did family films like 'Ghar Ek Mandir' (1989), 'Swarg Se Sunder' (1986) and shot further up with 'Pyar Jhukta Nahin'. After a brief marriage with a minor starlet named Helena, followed by a quick divorce, Mithun married Yogita Bali. Things were not smooth for some time, as an emotional Mithun got involved with Sridevi, but the problems sorted themselves out.
He has a Meena Kumari-like narcissism which makes him glamourise his days of struggle and seek sympathy from everyone. For the same reason, he tries projecting an image of a do-gooder. In the late '80s, he had a lean period when every film of his failed at the box-office. For financial security, he went into the hotel business: built a couple of luxury hotels in Ooty and shifted there. Now, Mithun does films with a clear time frame, insisting on loctions in Ooty. His economics have worked well and though not a big success, his films have regularly earned good dividends for the producers.
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