Dushmani

About the film

Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, film producer, entrepreneur and politician. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 350 films, mostly in Hindi and Bengali languages, and a few in Bhojpuri, Telugu, Odia, Tamil, Kannada, and Punjabi. Referred to as "Mahaguru" (Bengali for "The Great Teacher"), he is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. In January 2024, Chakraborty was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour by the Government of India. He was also awarded India's highest accolade in the field of cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2022, whose announcement came from the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in September 2024.

Chakraborty made his acting debut with art house drama Mrigayaa (1976), directed by Mrinal Sen, for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor. His major breakthrough role came with Bengali film Nadi Theke Sagare (1978). Chakraborty gained greater fame with the 1982 film Disco Dancer, which was a major box office success in India and the Soviet Union. Besides Disco Dancer, Chakraborty also gained recognition for many other performances as both a lead and character artist. Chakraborty's performance in Agneepath won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1990.

Early life and education

Mithun Chakraborty was born on 16 June 1950 into a Bengali Hindu family in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India to Basanta Kumar Chakraborty and Shanti Rani Chakraborty. He studied at Oriental Seminary and later dropped out after completing his B.Sc. second year in Chemistry from Scottish Church College in Kolkata. Later, he attended and graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He was a Naxalite before entering films, but tragedy struck his family. It is widely reported that his only brother was electrocuted and killed in an accident, whereas his sister Kalyani has confirmed to journalist Pankaj Shukla and others who reached her, that Mithun is the only son of his parents. He returned to his family and left the Naxalite ideology, even though this posed a grave risk to his own life. During his days as a Naxalite, he befriended Ravi Ranjan, a popular Naxal figure, known to his friends as "Bhaa" (the ultimate saviour). Ranjan was known for his manipulative skills and oratory abilities.

Film career

Chakraborty made his Hindi film debut in 1976 with Mrinal Sen's art-house film Mrigayaa, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. That same year, he played a brief role in Dulal Guha's hit thriller Do Anjaane which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Prem Chopra in the lead.

In 1978, Chakraborty made his debut in Bengali cinema with Arabinda Mukhopadhyay's romantic blockbuster Nadi Theke Sagare. He also co-starred alongside Rameshwari in Mera Rakshak. A remake of R. Thyagarajan's own directional venture Aattukara Alamelu (1977), it performed well commercially. In 1979, Chakraborty delivered another hit with Ravikant Nagaich's spy thriller Surakksha. This was followed by a string of successful films, such as Taraana (1979), Patita (1980), Unees-Bees (1980), Hum Paanch (1980) and Hum Se Badhkar Kaun (1981) and the Bengali film Kalankini Kankabati (1981).

In 1982, Chakraborty had a string of successes with Shaukeen, Ashanti and Taqdeer Ka Badshah. He shot to Superstardom in the same year with B. Subhash's dance film Disco Dancer. The film proved to be a hit domestically and an "all-time blockbuster" in overseas markets. It became the first Indian film to gross ₹1 billion (US$10 million). The soundtrack, composed by Bappi Lahiri, was successful in the charts and played a large role in the box office success of the film, especially in countries like Soviet Union and China. The same year, Chakraborty established himself in Bengali cinema with Gautam Mukherjee's musical blockbuster Troyee. In 1983, he played lead roles in T. Rama Rao and Deepak Bahry's commercially successful films - Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye and Hum Se Hai Zamana, respectively, and Basu Chatterjee's critically acclaimed light-hearted romance Pasand Apni Apni. The following year, he appeared alongside Shashi Kapoor, Moushmi Chatterjee and Ranjeeta in the family drama film Ghar Ek Mandir. At release, it was derided by critics, but went on to become a success at the box office. The box office success of Ghar Ek Mandir was followed by two more successes in Baazi and Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki.

Political career

Chakraborty became a Member of Parliament after he was nominated for the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament elections by the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee for her All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the West Bengal Rajya Sabha Assembly Polls, which were held on 7 February 2014. On 26 December 2016, he resigned as a Rajya Sabha MP. Chakraborty joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 7 March 2021, ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Brand ambassador

In the late 1980s, Chakraborty was an Indian ambassador for Panasonic. He was the face of GoDaddy, an internet domain registrar and web-hosting company.

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