Mithun Chakraborty’s rise to fame was not an easy race, the actor during an appearance on Zee Tv’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, in 2023 expressed about the challenges that he faced during the late 70s and 80. The disco dancer star disclosed how climbing through success wasn’t easy for him as many actresses refused to work with him and considered him as a B-grade actor.
He showed his gratitude towards legendary actress Zeenat Aman for working with him in Taqdeer which broke the jinx and ultimately rose him to stardom. “Kitni ladaai ek insaan lad sakta hai. Koi bhi badi heroine mere sath kaam karne ko taiyaar nahin thi. They thought I was a ‘chota star’. ‘Yeh kabhi kya hero banega? Who will make him a hero?’ Kya kya bolte the mere baare mein. I don’t even want to say it. Phir dard hota hai,” he said.
“There was a time when I thought I wouldn’t transition from B-grade films to A-grade films. There were times when the actresses walked out even after the film was announced. There was pressure and other actors were insecure that I would make it big someday. So they may have warned those heroines, ‘Iske saath kaam karogi toh hamare saath kaam nahin kar sakti,” he expressed emphasising how no actress wanted to work him because of which he wasn’t able to take his steps forward.
To his surprise, Zeenat recognised his potential and agreed to work with him. The actor, while expressing his gratitude, said “Zeenat ji said, ‘What a good-looking man he is! I will do the film with him’. It was Zeenat ji who broke the jinx. Zeenat ji had a status of the number one actress of that time, so following her footsteps, every other actress started saying yes to the films that I worked in. With Taqdeer’s release, I became an A-category actor. I will forever be grateful to Zeenat ji for helping me attain that. Zeenat ji, if you are listening to me, I offer my ‘pranaam’ to you.” The pair starred in several movies together and became a successful pair.
Mithun has previously spoken about being sabotaged in the industry by a fellow actor in an old interview published in Filmfare saying, “I won’t take names, I don’t want to get into that. Of course, when I became a star… How much it is true, I don’t know, but I could hear that heroines were refusing to work with me because the other heroes did not want them to work with me. I did face a lot of obstacles but I thought, if I am good, one day, they will come to me. Maybe I am lacking somewhere, which is why they are saying no to me, so I must correct myself. Somewhere, I am 99, I have to be 100,” the actor quoted.
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