Dadasaheb Phalke Award deservedly bagged by Mithun Chakraborty – EXCLUSIVE

By Jyothi Venkatesh

Minister for Information & Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on X that Chakraborty would be conferred with the award at the 70th National Film Awards ceremony on October 8, 2024. The announcement comes months after Chakraborty was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour, by the Government of India.

“I became speechless after getting such a prestigious award.I don’t know how to express this. I can’t cry, I can’t smile either. I am dedicating this award to my family and fans across the world,” the veteran actor and producer says. In his career spanning over four decades, Mithun has delivered some of the finest performances. He won a National Award for his debut film, Mrigayaa, directed by Mrinal Sen. Between 1980 and 1990, the actor headlined several films and also came to be known as “Disco Dancer” because of his unique dance style.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X to congratulate Chakraborty: “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.”

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals. Chakraborty will be the 54th winner of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which was instituted in 1969 in honour of Dadasaheb Phalke, who is known as the father of Indian cinema. Phalke directed India’s first feature film Raja Harishchandra in 1913.

Also read: When Dev Anand said, “I am a child of cinema”

53 people have received the award so far, including Prithviraj Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, BR Chopra and Yash Chopra. Actor Waheeda Rehman received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2021.

Mithun Chakraborty made his debut in Bollywood with the Mrinal Sen-directorial, Mrigayaa (1976). He won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance. He became a household name after playing the titular role in the 1982 film, Disco Dancer, which became a huge box-office success. He was also praised for the 1990 movie, Agneepath. These days, Mithun often appears on reality shows as a judge.

I have known Mithun intimately for the past 50 years , right from the time he made his debut with Mrigaya and I interviewed him over dinner at Sarika’s house when she requested me to interview him and also offered to drop me all the way home from her apartment in Juhu to Worli where I was staying then. I also remember having covered the shooting ofm his film Hum Paanch at Melkote and travelling to Bangalore with Mithun and Deepti  Naval when Deepti easd flabbergasted when Mithun and I kept on drinking bottle after beer of beer.

Mithun Chakraborty with Sr. Journalist Jyothi Venkatesh

The last time I met Mithun was at the press conference that Rajkumar Santoshi had hosted to introduce Mithun’s son Namashi to the media at the Sun N Sand. Mithun had introduced his first son Mimoh too to me a decade ago at a party where he was launched with great fanfare, incidentally at the same hotel. I congratulate Mithunda on his having bagged the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award at such a young age when compared to his seniors like Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand.