Ranchi:

The BJP on Tuesday rejected the assertion that actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty’s purse was stolen during a rally in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, claiming that it was misplaced and later found.

The incident happened when Mr Chakraborty was in the Nirsa assembly constituency to address a rally in favour of BJP candidate Aparna Sengupta.

“There was no such incident of pickpocketing. The purse was misplaced and later found,” BJP’s Dhanbad district president Ghanshyam Grover told PTI.

However, a video of the rally went viral on social media in which a BJP leader was heard saying on the microphone, “Whosoever has taken Mithun-da’s purse, please return it. This is not the culture of Nirsa.” PTI could not independently verify the video. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mithun Chakraborty.
| Photo Credit: ANI

In an industry which foists a new deity every Friday, Mithun Chakraborty’s has been a story of resilience. Announced as the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award on Monday (September 30, 2024), Mithun Chakraborty has never been a prisoner of image. From arthouse to mainstream commercial cinema to even fare meant unabashedly for frontbenchers, he has straddled different genres with consummate ease.

Beginning with Mrinal Sen’s Mrigayaa in 1976, he has probably been the only major actor to make a successful transition from arthouse cinema to commercial potboilers and back. While Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Om Puri and Smita Patil each dabbled with limited success in mainstream cinema after carving out their own niche in parallel cinema, Mithun is the only one to get a good bite of the cherry.

In parallel cinema, he has worked with the likes of Mrinal Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Goutam Ghose, winning three National Awards in the process. He switched to mainstream fare with the likes of B. Subash, K.C. Bokadia, Manmohan Desai and Parto Ghosh without a hiccup, giving his fans films like Disco Dancer, Dance Dance, Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Ganga Jumna Saraswati, Agneepath and Dalaal, etc. Director B. Subash’s Disco Dancer got Mithun an international fan following with the film raking it rich in the Soviet Union, Japan and China besides India. For a few years in the mid-80s, he was the best-known Indian abroad. At a time when Hindi cinema was dominated by Salim-Javed’s ‘Angry Young Man’ persona, Mithun rewrote the box office rules with Disco Dancer, where Bappi Lahiri’s music and his dance numbers ensured repeat audiences.

For a brief while in the late 80s, he challenged Amitabh Bachchan for the top slot in Hindi cinema, encouraging Desai to give him a meaty role in Ganga Jamunaa Saraswati, a rarity in Hindi cinema where most heroes played second fiddle to Bachchan.

Yet, Mithun’s most durable claim to fame has to be his foray into serious cinema where his work in films like Tahader Katha, Kaalpurush, Swami Vivekanand and Gudiya is still remembered. With his restrained work in arthouse cinema, he disproved the notion that an action hero of Hindi cinema could not pull off neorealism fare. Tahader Katha, Kaalpurush, Swami Vivekanand and Mrigayaa, each one got a National Award giving Mithun his own niche in serious cinema, and making sure his popularity traversed from first-day-first-show to film festival circuit.

There is, however, another aspect of Mithun’s career which has been under-appreciated. He is probably the first A-grade star to work in films specially made for the less-discerning audiences. In the mid-90s, Mithun reworked the economics of cinema by shooting for films exclusively in Ooty with a standard cast comprising the likes of Hemant Birje, Gautami, Deepti Bhatnagar, Kiran Kumar and Raza Murad with music by Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen. The films, made on a shoe-string budget of around ₹40 lakh, were completed within a month or so and released without fanfare at smaller centres. Films like Jallad, Chandaal, Dada, Hitler, The Don and Cheetah were not heard of in metropolises but earned the producers sizeable profit besides keeping Mithun’s hardcore fans in small towns happy. Interestingly, while G.V. Iyer took 11 years to complete the research for Mithun’s Swami Vivekanand, the star meanwhile completed more than 20 films!

In recent times, Mithun has played supporting roles in films like TheKashmir Files and The Tashkent Files, forays which probably went some way in convincing the three-member jury comprising former Dadasaheb awardee Asha Parekh, actor-politician Khushbu Sundar and filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah to select Mithun Chakraborty for the highest honour in Indian cinema.

New Delhi:

Expressing delight at veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty being conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded him as a cultural icon.

In a post on X, PM Modi said, “Delighted that Shri Mithun Chakraborty Ji has been conferred the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, recognizing his unparalleled contributions to Indian cinema.” “He is a cultural icon, admired across generations for his versatile performances. Congratulations and best wishes to him,” he said.

Mr Chakraborty, star of films such as “Mrigayaa”, “Surakshaa”, “Disco Dancer”, and “Dance Dance”, was on Monday named recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the government’s highest recognition in the field of cinema. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Midnapore, West Bengal:

Stones were hurled by some persons during a roadshow of actor-turned-BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty in Midnapore town on Tuesday, following which a clash broke out, police said.

Agnimitra Paul, BJP candidate for Midnapore Lok Sabha seat where polling will be held on May 25, accused Trinamool Congress workers of hurling glass bottles and stones at the procession, a charge denied by the ruling party in the state.

Both Mithun Chakraborty and Agnimitra Paul were unharmed in the incident.

The roadshow began at Collectorate More and was proceeding towards Keranitola, with hundreds of BJP supporters raising slogans, and Mithun Chakraborty, with Agnimitra Paul beside him, waving to crowds from a vehicle.

However, as the roadshow reached Shekhpura More, some persons standing on the roadside hurled stones and bottles at the procession, following which BJP workers charged at them and a clash broke out, a police officer said, adding, however, the situation was quickly brought under control.

“The TMC is scared of swelling support for the BJP and is resorting to such hooliganism. They can stoop so low as to disrespect a legendary actor like Mithun Chakraborty,” Agnimitra Paul said.

She accused participants of a street-corner meeting of the TMC of triggering the violence.

“Such conduct by those who tried to create chaos in a peaceful convoy is despicable,” Agnimitra Paul said.

TMC spokesperson Trinankur Bhattacharya denied the allegations and said, “We don’t believe in such unruly acts. The BJP itself is staging the drama as the roadshow was a flop.” 

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is incredibly responsive and completely natural in his behaviour, award-winning film star and Bengal BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty said.

“The longest he took to reply to my message was 23 minutes,” shared the star, who has just been honoured with a Padma Shri.

Recalling one of their initial meetings at an event in Bengal, the actor shared how PM Modi spent 10 exclusive minutes with him.

“Soon after the meeting, he called out for me. ‘Mithun da, I wish to speak to you for some time’,” Mr Chakraborty recalled. “Those 10 minutes were truly charismatic. Not because he is the PM, but due to his natural behaviour and responsive nature. The impact is still on me.”

Mithun Chakraborty then spoke about the PM’s promptness. “He is quite busy, so it’s natural to expect replies after two or three days,” he said.

“But I received responses within 10-15 minutes. Once, I noted that the longest time he took to reply to my message was 23 minutes. In another instance, when he was in Germany and in a different time zone, he still replied promptly, saying, ‘We shall discuss tomorrow’.”

Speaking of PM Modi’s sincerity in personal relations, Mr Chakraborty said, “PM Modi is someone who never resorts to the common rhetoric of ‘Let’s see’. I prefer to stay away from such individuals. PM Modi always invites, ‘Come, let’s discuss’.”

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New Delhi:

Former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu, founder of Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathak and a host of other prominent persons were conferred with Padma Awards by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremonial function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Monday.

M Venkaiah Naidu, Bindeshwar Pathak, who was given the award posthumously, and renowned Bharatanatyam dancer Padma Subrahmanyam were conferred with the Padma Vibhushan.

Actor Mithun Chakraborty, singer Usha Uthup, former Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik and industrialist Sitaram Jindal were conferred with the Padma Bhushan.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, among others, were present at the function.

Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian honours of the country, are conferred in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

The awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.

The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, the Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and the Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.

The awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day every year.

For 2024, the President had approved conferment of 132 Padma awards, including two duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one).

The list comprises five Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 110 Padma Shri awards.

As many as 30 of the awardees are women and the list also includes eight people from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and nine posthumous awardees.

While almost half of the awardees were conferred the awards on Monday, the remaining are likely to get them next week.

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