Mithun Chakraborty is known as the OG ‘Disco Dancer’ of Hindi cinema. His popularity and fan following was huge and he made his way despite several stereotypes around Hindi cinema heroes at that time. Talking about his popularity, a theatre owner reflected on those times and lauded the actor for making financially viable movies. The box office and the reception in theatres is always the ultimate goal for every actor and if exhibitors, distributors approve of an actor, he’s clearly successful.In a recent interview, Vishak Chauhan, owner of one of the oldest cinemas in Bihar, Roopbani cinema hall, said on Digital Commentary podcast, “Mithun is a legend no matter what anyone says about him or his work. There was a time when he was giving us two films every month. He did a lot of films during the days when he had the parallel industry in Ooty, and Raj Babbar was the prime producer. Every Mithun film used to open with 100% occupancy, and we knew that we were going to have a good week ahead.”
He further added, “The action sequences became iconic, and films like Cheetah, Ravan Raj, Sanyasi Mera Naam, Zahreela, Mard, and Hitler were all superhits. I remember that one day we were screening Mard, and the next film was a Mithun film, and the posters for the two upcoming films were also Mithun films. During those days, before the Bhojpuri industry boom, Mithun was the support system for all single-screen theatres in Bihar. He was single-handedly taking care of these theatres while Bollywood was now moving to a more elitist phase.”He also spoke about the business model of Mithun’s movies which was implemented by producers and added, “The films were made at a low cost and weren’t very high quality. They were made for the single screen with a limited budget, and their business concept was very clear. He used to charge Rs 1 lakh a day, and the condition was that the film had to be shot in Ooty. The entire crew used to stay in the Monarch Hotel, which was owned by him, and as long as he was paid his fees, he was ready to shoot whatever the film required.”Further recalling an anecdote, Vishak shared that at one point of time, Mithun was more successful than Amitabh Bachchan. Recalling a funny anecdote, he shared how a choreographer was not okaying a shot as Mithun’s hand was going in the wrong direction. After Mithun got frustrated, he said, “Agar haath udhar jayega to film hit ho jayegi kya (If my hand goes in the other direction, will my film become a hit)?”
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