Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the most prestigious award given to a person for his contribution in the field of cinema. The award has been named after Dadasaheb Phalke (1870-1944), who is called as “the father of Indian cinema”. On 30th September, it was announced that Mithun Chakraborty will be receiving the award this year. Earlier this year, he was also awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour.
People have shown mixed reviews towards the award being presented to him. Mithun, currently is mostly remembered (among majority of people) for his work in small budget films like Loha, Jallad and Gunda. People who know the full length of his career show their happiness to him getting the award; whereas people who know him only through the popular memes and reels of his low-budget films are calling it controversial.
However, Mithun should not be judged based upon the works spanning a fraction of his career. The actor entered into the field of cinema through Mrigaya (for which he won a National Film Award). In a span of almost 50 years, the actor has given numerous blockbuster films. Worth mentioning is Disco Dancer (which raised him to stardom)- which was the first Indian film to do a business of ₹100 crores. The actor in his career received two Filmfare awards and three National Film Awards. For almost two decades his movies dominated the box office with big hits like Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye, Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki, Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Ghulami, Agneepath etc.
The actor also saw an excellent career in Bengali industry as well. He started his journey in the Bengali films with Nadi Theke Sagare. He then rampaged in the industry with multiple hits. Most of his Bengali films are remembered for their artistic sense more than their commercial statistics. He won two National Film Awards for his roles in Bengali films. One for Tahader Katha; and the other for his portrayal of Ramakrishna Paramhansa in G. V. Iyer’s biographical Swami Vivekananda.
After his break from mainstream cinema (when he did several low-budget films for which he is still trolled), he made a comeback as Mani Ratnam’s Guru. From then, he has done several films that went on to become substantial hits. He was seen in big hits like Golmaal 3, Housefull 2, OMG- Oh My God, Kick etc. In 2019, he played a pivotal role in The Tashkent Files, which was liked a lot by people. Recently he was seen in The Kashmir Files (2022), which did a business of 340 crores. For his work in the film he was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The actor has contributed a lot to Indian cinema. His versatility is evident from his characters ranging from an action hero to a dancer to a comic one to family drama to films of serious manner. He even took to small-budget films which at the time served the poorer audience who could not afford to watch mainstream cinema. Mithun over the years has been the true embodiment of an artist and persists to be so. Although his low-budget films may look silly now, he should never be judged only based on them which account for a fraction of his career. What he has achieved in the field is farther than a dream for many people.