Mithun Chakraborty

Personal Life and Career

MITHUN CHAKRABORTY was born in Kolkata and educated at the Scottish Church College,Calcutta, from where he earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry (B.Sc). After that he attended and graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India.He started his film career at a late age of 29 in a Bengali film made by Mrinal Sen. Numerous sources claim that MITHUN CHAKRABORTY had a relationship with actress Sridevi from year 1986 to year 1987, and that Sridevi ended the relationship when she found out that he had not divorced his first wife, Yogita Bali. Many versions of this story say that the couple was secretly married and the marriage was later annulled. His first movie role was in the Bengali Mrinal Sen directed film Mrigaya in year 1976 for which he won a National Film Award for Best Actor. He then had a few minor roles in Hindi films such as Do Anjaane (year 1976) and Phool Kile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (year 1978).
 
He shot into national prominence in the late year 1970s and year 1980s with leading roles in many Hindi films such as Suraksha (year 1979) , Taarana (year 1979), Patita (year 1980), Hum Paanch (year 1980) and his breakthrough role finally came in the musical drama Disco Dancer in year 1983 which was a huge success at the box office. This film and other films such as Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki (year 1984) and Dance Dance (year 1987) showcased him as a talented dancer. It is a little known fact that Mithun was a staunch Naxalite before entering the film industry. But tragedy struck his family when his only brother got accidentally electrocuted and killed in a freak accident. Mithun returned to his family and left the Naxalite fold, even though doing so meant a grave risk to his own life from the Naxalites, because this was considered a one-way road (it was an unwritten law somewhat like an Omerta, that one could not abandon the Naxalite cause once it had been embraced). This proved to be a turning point in his life and became one of the prime causes that led to his iconic status. Another lesser known fact is that he had undergone expert training in martial arts.

Mithun is married to Indian actress Yogita Bali and has six children, four sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Mimoh Chakraborty is an upcoming actor whose debut movie is scheduled to be launched in year 2007. During the mid year 1980s he was regarded as a rival to Amitabh Bachchan as the genre of films he did then showcased him as an angry young man at odds with the ills of society and corruption. This was the characterization of an image that made Amitabh Bachchan famous in the year 1970s.Mithun achieved not only commercial success but also tremendous critical acclaim. His performances in his first film Mrigaya as well as for films such as Tahader Katha and Ramakrishna, were widely appreciated. He received the coveted National Film Award for Best Actor for the three films.He also won the Filmfare Award for Jallad & Agneepath and has won many awards in India and abroad in the last 31 years.
 
During the mid year 1990s he shifted his focus from the mainstream Hindi cinema and went into starring in his own low-budget B-grade movies. These movies were mainly produced to cater to the audiences of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, where Mithun has a cult-following even today, thanks to his Bhojpuri movies. He made a comeback to the Bollywood mainstream film industry in year 2005 with the film Elaan which was not successful. After a few supporting roles in films such as Lucky: No Time for Love and Dil Diya Hai he gave a critically acclaimed performance in Chingari which was however, not a commercial success. He recently starred in Mani Ratnam's film Guru.