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His sense of humour is as charming as his larger-than-life personality. “I have asked Mimoh not to act for ten years, just to follow the director’s instructions,” says Mithun Chakraborty about his son, who is doing his first Bollywood project.

In the same breath, he adds with fatherly pride, “It was his mother who told me that he wanted to be an actor. When I first saw him dancing it was horrible. But he’s now trained himself in dance, acting and action.” The three things that his father excelled at, among other things.

Chakraborty is back now with Kallpana G Lazmi’s Chingaari, which the actor feels  “is one more feather in my cap”. The film, which also stars Sushmita Sen, releases on Friday.

“North Pole and South Pole,” is how he describes his character Bhuvan Panda, a village priest. “It is a complex character. On one hand, he is a priest and on the other he is a human being passionately in love with a sex worker,” says Chakraborty.

It is not a totally negative character, he feels. “He loves Basanti (Sushmita), but does not allow her inside the temple. Such is his passion for her that he even kills her lover. And then there is that spark — the Chingaari,” says the National Award-winning actor who has never shied away from variety. “I have set my own standards, doing mainstream as well as off-beat films,” he says. 

Working with Kallpana and Sushmita has been a revelation as far as Chakraborty is concerned. “She has always made women-centric films. And to play such a role in a woman-centric film like Chingaari  has been extremely satisfying,” says Chakraborty. 

Double standards is what the film exposes. “We love to eat mutton, but before we do, we put a tikka on our forehead.”

He has special praise for Sushmita. “She stands out. I know she is a glamorous actor and a former Miss Universe but on the sets I saw only Basanti in her,” says Chakraborty, who also stars in Rohit Nayyar’s Sun Zarra, which is slated for release soon.

Also awaiting release is his movie with Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Kaalpurush. He is in Aaditya Datt’s Dil Diya Hai too.