I am the youngest star in the industry: Mithun Chakraborty

Jul 3, 2010 Robin Bansal

New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) After more than 30 years in the Indian film industry, three national awards in his kitty and over 300 films to his credit, veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty still feels he is just 27 and "getting younger day by day".

"I am getting younger day by day," said Mithun. "Mind you, I am only 27-plus. I am the youngest star in the industry," he told IANS in an informal chat.

"But I don't want to wish anyone the hurdles I had to go through to be here," added the actor, who rose to become a dancing sensation with movies like "Disco Dancer" and "Dance Dance".

"Dance is like my religion. It is like god to me and like worshipping. It is in my blood. I knew that it was only through that I could have come in the industry," said the actor, who was last seen in "Veer".

Looking younger than ever, asked if it was dance that is keeping him fit, he said: "No. No. I don't dance now regularly but I do exercise everyday."

Mithun is upbeat about his role as a junior artist in Gautam Pandey's Bengali movie "Shukno Lanka" that released Friday simultaneously in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.

"I play a junior artist in 'Shukno Lanka' and it gave me a rare opportunity to retrace my struggling days... It is almost similar to the humiliation and the treatment faced by junior artistes in real life," he said.

"But it is not a story about me or that junior artist. It is about a dream knocking at your door and living that dream. Look at me, I was nobody but I rose from that to whosoever I am today and even changed the definition of dance in this country," he added.

Co-produced by Mumbai Mantra Media Ltd and the Moxie Group, the film also stars Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Debashree Roy and debutante Australian actress Emma Brown.

Asked how he perceives the fate of the Bengali film industry, Mithun said: "To release a Bengali film nationally and to tell people that we also make great films is enough to say that the state of the Bengali film industry is very good and it is flourishing."

"Regional cinema is emerging now because of multiplexes. The only thing Bengali cinema lacks today is a release outside Bengal. So we are trying to push Bengali films nationally now and soon we will do it internationally too," he added.

The veteran is also game for working in other languages.

"I have done movies in other languages before and if given a chance I'll do every regional film in all 22 languages," he said.

Mithun da, as he is fondly known, also worked in a slew of low budget B-grade movies in the 1990s.

Asked about the same, he shared a professional secret: "There are three categories of films I do - films that make money where nothing else matters, films that satisfy me and films that hit the gallery with all the action and dialogues that make audiences go gaga."

Mithun's future projects include "Sphagetti 24X7" with son Mimoh, "Golmaal 3" and Bengali movies "Aami Subhash Bolchhi" and "Ek Nadir Golpo".

The actor follows a balanced schedule.

"I do two Bengali films and two Hindi films every year and then I have my TV reality shows 'Dance India Dance' and 'Dance Bangla Dance'. That's how it works for me," he said.

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Shukno Lanka