Bollywood's Disco king

No Hindi film is complete without a song-and-dance. The '80s belonged to a tall, lanky actor who made the entire industry sway to his dance moves, and after all these years, Mithun Chakraborty is making a comeback. Only this time he's swapped the silver screen for a reality TV show, writes Abdulla Mahmood.

When you speak about Bollywood's original dance star, there's only one name that comes to mind the legendary Mithun Chakraborty. The talented and National Award winning actor became an overnight sensation due to his dance moves in the cult hit Disco Dancer (1982). His career peaked during the mid '80s and he even posed a threat to Amitabh Bachchan's numero uno position in Bollywood.

In the '90s he literally ran a parallel film industry out of Ooty, churning out low-budget potboilers at regular intervals. After taking a fairly long break from films, Chakraborty made a successful comeback in Mani Ratnam's super-hit Guru.

So when Zee TV decided to launch the dance reality show Dance India Dance, Chakraborty was the obvious choice as the grand judge. Throughout the show, he's displayed immense knowledge of dance and encouraged young dancing talent. His humble attitude revived his dancing status, making the grand finale of Dance India Dance in Mumbai a grand affair. The success of the show has prompted Chakraborty to consider returning to film the next season of Dance India Dance.

In an exclusive telephone interview, Chakraborty speaks about the show, his lack of ego, his films and his children.

Besides the obvious 'dance' factor, what made you take up Dance India Dance?

I think there were three factors that really worked in favour of the show. Firstly, I believe that it's the perfect stage for youngsters to showcase their talent. In my day it was a struggle to get any recognition for your talent. Secondly, I think the show is for the masses, making it an ideal stage for any local talent to gain truly national recognition. I came from the streets and went on to become a star. Thirdly, I thought it was a great opportunity to watch and judge youngsters at a national level.

Were you satisfied with the quality of the contestants?

I think they were simply fantastic. I am amazed with their hard work, dancing skills and determination to prove a point. Though Imran won the competition, I think the other finalists (Siddesh and Alisha) were also equally good and were winners in their own right.

As a judge, did you get emotionally attached to the contestants, meaning you overlooked some of their shortcomings?

No, I don't get emotional in my professional work. Even as an actor I go to the film sets, do my job and leave without getting emotionally involved. As a judge I try to evaluate purely on the basis of merit. Sometimes I get emotional after watching a performance that involved tremendous hardwork or exceptional dancing skill. As a dancer I get involved with the dance but that doesn't hamper my thought-process in judging the performances.

When you look at these young dancers, how would you compare them with dancers of your era?

I don't think a comparison would be fair as our time was different to the current era. There has been a lot of modernisation in dance style. There's more hip-hop incorporated into most dance sequences. But if you look at it closely, the moves have a bit of everything: tango, jive, disco, rock-n-roll and other western dancing styles. These are fused into the Indian dance moves. These styles did exist during my time. So I think dancing is a continuously evolving process and it's difficult to be compared between two different time frames.

Moving on to your films, do you have any exciting forthcoming projects?

I'm currently working on Veer in which I play the role of Salman Khan's father. It's a big budget action film and Salman has helped me build my physique for it. I also have a few interesting projects lined up for release Luck, an action-adventure and Zor Lagaa Ke Haiya, a children's film.

How does it feel to team up with Sanjay Dutt and Danny Denzongpa in Luck after working with them in the '80s?

I don't have an ego as an actor, which is why I share a great rapport with most of my co-stars. I'm fond of Sanjay and glad to find that our relationship hasn't changed over the years. Danny is a close friend of mine and so acting with him is always really fun.

What do you think about the younger stars in Luck Imran Khan and Shruti Haasan?

I think both of them have a lot of potential and are committed to their work. Imran has already proved himself with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane and will go a long way.

Do you regret your son Mimoh's disastrous debut in Jimmy? Do you think he deserved a better debut vehicle?

Yes, I do feel that a better subject could've helped Mimoh's cause. That said, I do believe there's no guarantee that if you are talented or a star-kid, success will come your way easily. Mimoh may have failed in his debut but he will learn from his mistakes. I've told him to fight his own battle and work towards becoming a successful actor. He seems to have some good projects in hand and I do hope he succeeds.

Will your other kids be joining films in the near future?

My second son Rimoh is getting into film direction while my third son Nimoh is still studying. As for my daughter, she's still undecided about what career to opt for and I'll leave it to her to make the decision.