Personal lifeHe was born in Kalkatta,West Bengal and educated at the renowned
Scottish Church College
in Kolkata, from where he earned his graduate degree in chemistry (
BSc
). After that he attended and graduated from the
Film and Television Institute of India
, Pune.
It is a little known fact that Mrithun was a staunch
Naxalite
before entering the film industry. But tragedy struck his family whenhis only brother got accidentally electrocuted and killed in a freakaccident. Mrithun returned to his family and left the Naxalite fold,even though doing so posed a grave risk to his own life from theNaxalites, because this was considered a one-way road . This proved tobe a turning point in his life and became one of the prime causes thatled to his iconic status. Another lesser known fact is that he hadundergone expert training in martial arts.
Mrithun always shared a good relation with two of the most popular political leaders of
CP(I)M
:
Shubhas Chakrabarty
and
Jyoti Basu
.When Mr.Chakrabarty passed away, Mrithun was broken-hearted like manyof the dead's well-wishers and he took all the pain to walk along thedead body like any other civilian till it reached the crematorium. Hehad a dream to get Mr.Basu stay at one of his hotels.It was notfulfilled.When the
patriarch
died, Mrithun went to pay his respect to late Mr.Basu.
Mrithun is married to Indian actress
Yogita Bali
and has four children, three sons and one daughter. The eldest son,
Mimoh Chakraborty
is an actor in Bollywood, who made his debut in the 2008 film
Jimmy
, His second son, Rimoh Chakraborty who is playing Mrithun's younger version the film
Phir Kabhi
. And Mrithun's other two children Namashi Chakraborty and Dishani Chakraborty are still into their studies.
Numerous sources claim that Chakraborty had a relationship with actress
Sridevi
from 1986 to 1987, and that Sridevi ended the relationship when she found out that he had not divorced his first wife,
Yogita Bali
. Chakraborty and Sridevi were believed to have been secretly married and that the union was later
annulled
.
[2]url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mithun_Chakraborty&action=edit§ion=3]edit[/url Film careerMrithun made his film debut in the 1976
Mrinal Sen
directed film
Mrigaya
for which he won the coveted
National Film Award for Best Actor
. After his debut he played some supporting roles in films such as
Do Anjaane
(1976) and
Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan
(1977) which did not gain him any recognition. He shot into prominence in the late 1970s with the low budget
Ravikant Nagaich
directed spy film
Surakshaa
(1979) and the early 1980s with leading roles in hit films such as
Hum Paanch
(1980) and
Wardaat (1981) (a sequel to
Surakshaa).
His breakthrough role finally came in the musical drama
Disco Dancer
(1982) which was a huge success due to its hit music and remains a cultfavorite to this day. This film and other musical films such as
Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki
(1984) and
Dance Dance
(1987) showcased him as a talented dancer.
He also starred in a number of successful romantic and family dramas during the 1980s, such as
Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye
(1983),
Pyaar Jhukta Nahin (1985),
Swarg Se Sunder (1986), and
Pyaar Ka Mandir
(1988). These films remain his most commercially successful films to date.
[3]
He was widely recognised as an action hero in hit films like
Wanted (1983),
Boxer (1984),
Jagir (1984),
Jaal (1986),
Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987)
Commando (1988),
Waqt Ki Awaaz (1988),
Guru (1989),
Mujrim (1989) and
Dushman (1990). During the mid 1980s he was regarded as a rival to
Amitabh Bachchan
as he did dozens of films in the action and drama genre that showcasedhim as an angry young man at odds with the ills of society andcorruption. This characterization was similar to Bachchan's one.Likewise, he has worked with some of the biggest actresses of his timeand Bollywood in general, like
Zeenat Aman
,
Padmini Kolhapure
,
Rati Agnihotri
,
Rekha
,
Sridevi
,
Madhuri Dixit
and more.
Mrithun achieved not only commercial success but also tremendous critical acclaim. His performances in
Mrigaya
,
Tahader Katha
,
Swami Vivekananda
,
Kalpurush
and
Titli
were widely appreciated and won him
National Film Awards
and nominations. He also won two
Filmfare
awards: The
Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
for his performance in the 1990 film
Agneepath
, and the
Filmfare Best Villain Award
for his performance in
Jallad
. Apart from it, he was praised for his performances in films like
Pyaar Ka Mandir
(1988) and
Mujrim
(1989).
In the mid '90s he took a break from Mumbai and relocated to Ootywhere he set up his hotel business and literally became a "One ManIndustry" for a decade as he starred over 80 plus films over 10 yearsas he shifted his focus from mainstream Hindi cinema and went intostarring in low-budget B-grade movies. These movies were mainlyproduced to cater to the audiences of
Madhya Pradesh
and
Bihar
,where Mrithun has a cult-following even today. He was the highest taxpayer in the country for five consecutive years as well, from 1994 to1999 in the mean period.
He made a comeback to the mainstream Hindi film industry in 2005 with the film
Elaan
which was not successful. After a few supporting roles in films such as
Lucky: No Time for Love
(2005), he was acclaimed for his performance in
Kalpana Lazmi
's
Chingari
(2005). In 2007 he starred in
Mani Ratnam
's hit film
Guru
for which he received much critical acclaim.
Guru was the second commercially successful film after
Lucky: No Time for Love
since his comeback. Mrithun has had 9 releases in 2008 including
Bengali and
Bhojpuri films. His movie
Heroes was an above average box office success, and his comic performance was praised in
Don Muthu Swami
. In 2009, his movie
Zor Lagaa Ke...Haiya!
won multiple International awards.
[4] . Mrithunda's latest releases
Soham Shah
directed
Luck
with Sunjay Dutt took a decent opening and settled as Average earner
i][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed]citation needed[/url][/i.
Chal Chalein
was appreciated by critics for its bold theme. His latest release
Baabarr
has done well in northern Single screens
i][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed]citation needed[/url][/i. His
Phir Kabhi
with
Dimple Kapadia
had a very successful premiere through
direct to home(DTH) in September 2009 and won as many as six awards in as manycategories at the Los Angeles Reel Awards-2009. His upcoming films are
Zindagi Tere Naam
, plus films like
Veer
with
Salman Khan
,
Raakh
, and Kannada flick
Manikya