Mithun Chakraborty used to dance at parties for free food, slept on footpaths: ‘It was beyond struggle’

Mithun Chakraborty started off with Mrigayaa, which won him a National Award for Best Actor. But he had to struggle even then in the industry.

Mithun Chakraborty is one of the best actors in the industry. The veteran actor has starred in over 350 films across Hindi, Bengali, and other regional languages during a career spanning more than four decades. However, it was not an easy start for him in the industry when he was a new actor. There were times when he even danced at parties to get free food.

Mithun Chakraborty opened up about his struggles in the early years as an actor. (Rishi Ballabh)

What Mithun shared

The veteran actor was the latest celebrity who appeared on Farah Khan's latest vlog on her YouTube channel. The two have known each other for years and spoke about his career. Speaking about the actor, Farah Khan shared, “When I was young, my uncle, KK Shukla, used to write movies for Amitabh Bachchan. Your dad used to come to his parties to dance, only so that he could get food to eat in the night. We were too young then, they used to say, bring Mithun home, the boy dances well. He used to come, wouldn’t charge anything, he would get dinner there in return for his performance. That struggle is something else. A lot of people randomly use the word struggle, but this is what real struggle looks like."

Mithun added, “This is beyond struggle. Beyond in the sense, he has slept on the streets, footpath. I slept on street, garden, a couple of times I used to be so tired while walking, I would fall asleep on footpath. When I would wake up, I would find myself on footpath.”

“I think he is the only star who became a megastar after starting his journey as a junior artist,” Farah added.

About his career

Born as Gouranga Chakraborty on June 16, 1950, Mithun Chakraborty is an actor, producer, entrepreneur and politician whose career spans more than five decades. He has appeared in over 350 films across Hindi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Odia, Tamil, Kannada and Punjabi cinema.

Popularly known as 'Mahaguru', Mithun is a three-time National Film Award winner and has also received four Filmfare Awards. In 2024, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour. He was also honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.

Mithun started his acting journey with filmmaker Mrinal Sen's National Award winning 1976 drama Mrigayaa. It was the 1979 spy thriller Surakshaa that laid the grounds for his stardom in the 80s with blockbusters like Disco Dancer, Dance Dance, Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki and Commando among others.

These were the busy years for the actor who headlined more than 100 films in the decade, often juggling four movie shoots a day. The multiple National Award winning actor juggled both Bollywood and Bengali films and eventually made his debut on the small screen towards the end of the 2000s.