'Holding on to superstardom is far more difficult than the struggle to get there.'
Mithun Chakraborty is still a superstar in Bengal, celebrating blockbusters in the theatres and drawing a loyal audience to his talent hunt show, Dance Bangla Dance, now in its 12th season, week after week.
In Mumbai too, he has some of the most talked-about projects and remains one of the busiest actors.
This Christmas, he will be arriving as an Afghan Santa with a bagful of nuts in Jio Studios and SVF Entertainment's Kabuliwala, based on Rabindranath Tagore's famous short story.
The film is releasing along with two biggies, but he is unfazed about the competition.
On a bitterly cold night in the US, togged up in a padded jacket, a cap and muffler, Dada comes on a Zoom call to chat with Rediff.com Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya.
Five minutes into the conversation, he's complaining that it is late and he's sleepy.
Dada has never liked giving interviews, the three times National Award-winning actor likes his work to speak to him.
He is persuaded to take a few more questions and answers them with his usually refreshing candour.
"I ask my children to rate me today, not as a father, but as an actor. When I got a dus mein sau for Kabuliwala from Rimoh, I was happy, it inspires me to do even better," he says.
Even after 40 years, people are still singing Jimmy Jimmy in Tashkent and Kazakhstan. After Kabuliwala, will they be calling you by that name in Afghanistan?
I don't know that, but yes, Disco Dancer created magic in India, Central Asia and even Europe.
Even I can't explain its phenomenal success, maybe because it was India's first musical dance film.
It made me a dancing superstar and remains immortal in the same way that Rabindranath Tagore's short story is immortal.
Legendary actors like Chabbi Biswas and Balraj Sahni have played the Kabuliwala in films inspired by Tagore's story in the '50s and '60s, and Danny Denzongpa more recently in an adaptation, Bioscopewala, in 2018. How is your interpretation of the character different?
I haven't seen anyone else's film because I'm always afraid I may end up copying them.
This Kabuliwala is Shrikant Mohta (producer), Suman Ghosh (director) and our film, but true to Tagore's story too, revolving around a father who having to mortgage his land to repay a loan taken during his daughter's illness, is forced to leave his home and cross the border.
The Pashtun from Kabul joins other Afghans selling their wares in Kolkata and meets a young girl, Mini, who is the same age as his daughter, delighted that Allah has given him a Razia here too.
A bonding develops between the two which ends on an emotional note.
When you have a good story, you can't go wrong.
When I was young, I had an Afghan friend too.
He was not a Kabuliwala, but a cook who loved me a lot and taught me how to cook.
Where is he now?
I don't know, he went back for his daughter's wedding.
After that the situation in Afghanistan changed and we lost touch.
This film is my tribute to Jamaluddin Khan, wherever he may be today.
If anyone has inspired me, it's him. I've even borrowed the accent from him.
Also, my character, Rahmat, like Jamaluddin Khan, suffers from asthma, which is why his mother is concerned, wondering how he will undertake such an arduous journey. But he insists he has to so he can feed his family and take care of his beloved daughter.
You dote on your daughter too.
Yes, I'm very emotionally attached to her.
I would break into pieces if Dishani went far away, both my wife (Yogita Bali) and I would die.
That's the beauty of Mini's bonding with Kabuliwala too, which develops slowly through small things.
It happens so organically and emotionally that it doesn't seem like fiction, it's something that could happen with you too for real.
It happened to me and my Afghan friend.
Kabuliwala is releasing during Christmas with two huge films: Shah Rukh Khan's Rajkumari Hirani-directed Dunki and Prashanth Neel's Salaar: Part 1-Ceasefire, starring South superstar Prabhas. How is the Royal Bengal Tiger feeling?
All this no longer makes any difference to me.
It did earlier.
I would get fever on Fridays.
Dysentery too.
Holding on to superstardom is far more difficult than the struggle to get there.
Now, I'm above all this, the hangover is gone!
Today, I only want my producer to earn back the money he has invested in the film. After that, will we start looking at profits.
You had a superhit in The Tashkent Files and a blockbuster in The Kashmir Files. Producer-director Vivek Agnihotri insists that these films were more than just another performance for you.
I have never been dishonest to my profession.
When I do a film today, actually even earlier, I was completely invested in it, even if it was a regular commercial film.
I ask my children to rate me today, not as a father, but as an actor.
When I got a dus mein sau (100 on 10) for Kabuliwala from Rimoh, I was happy, it inspires me to do even better.
How would you rate your children?
I give them 200 out of 100.
They are good kids: Teetotallers, well-balanced, with no bad habits.
They were brought up to believe that if you are a good human being, all your efforts will pay off.
But if you are crooked, you will go bonkers.
Wouldn't you like your first born, Mimoh, to direct in a film you some day?
I would love it.
My second son, Rimoh, is a director.
He's directed an animated film and two short films.
Namashi is also working in films and Dishani is studying acting and film-making.
I would love any of my four children to direct me.
What do you look for in a film today?
I don't look for anything, I wait to see which story tickles me, and when it does, I do the film.
I can't do the same films I've done before, they no longer give me a kick.
So, Tashkent Files, Kashmir Files and Projapati, a recently released Bengali blockbuster, these films are ekdum hatke (very different). I do them with full intensity and honesty.
You will see the same honesty in Kabuliwala.
In 2024, you have a diverse line-up of films, from Delhi Files and Houseful 5 to Rajkumar Santoshi's Lahore, 1947...
(Cuts in) Yes, there's Riwaj, Behisaab, Shastri, Baap , Venkatesh's next...
There will be five-six films next year.
That makes you one of the busiest actors, given that most actors don't have more than a couple of releases a year.
Even I want to do a film or two in a year.
This just happened.
When there is demand and good stories come along, in your greed for good roles, you can't say no.
Will we see you returning to politics?
I've not gone away from politics.
I'm a great fan of Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra D Modi) and am a part of the BJP's core committee.
But getting to full-fledged politics is difficult as it requires complete commitment. Without that you cannot be honest to it.
Let's see what happens.
Now, goodnight.
