PXylem

The hero remains decent, sober, up-right, straight, honest and very poor [add all positive adjectives] person in the first part of the movie, in contrast in the second part he becomes a don with a million-dollar style statement, later he takes revenge against of all those villains who helped him to increase his status, had been the skeleton concept, perhaps, of all movies in the early 80’s.

And one hero who fits into this bill was, non other than Mithun Chakrabarty, our Mithunda.

We have traversed a long and serpentine road. No [ Kadapi nahin]. The truth is that we have travelled hundreds light years (!!)[distance travelled by light in one year = I light year], in the way we have started seeing our bollywood heroes, the transition of roles they have donned from the early 80’s to the present day.

In the early 80’s, considered to be the heydays of our Mithun Chakrobarty acting career in bollywood, the heroes used to play the role of a street hawker, our neighbouring mechanic in the half part of the movie, and in the second part becoming a millionaire, was the bottomline of all the stories.

And Mithunda’s movies were the perfect example of this transition. It is understood, at the end of the movie, Mithunda assassinates, murders those who have been instrumental in increasing the stature of his cinematic role. That was my idol Mithunda’s movies story plot. And without much involving our mind, mental conscience we used to enjoy the mechanic, hawker [in Disco Dancer] role played by him.

And now suppose, for god sake, if we had to see the present day hero like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar in the role what Mithunda played in his time. What would be 4- Khan’s and Kumar’s reaction? A complete no-no. The same would be the public’s reaction, they will not be able to digest their heroes being shown in the last element of the long economic chain.

It is true; movies are the mirrors of the society. Mithunda’s movies show the persisting society of that time, which had been very much black and white in colour, India was still being under the inspector/ licensee raj, IT non existent, the so-called boom was nowhere in the economy. Consequently, the heroes were either ending up their role as a poor man or son of a super rich father. A case in point, Shah Rukh Khan’s role in his perhaps all movies starting from Deewana where he played the role of love stricken boy, remember his role in Dilwale Dilhaniya Le Jayenger, he played the role of a son of a NRI.

Time has indeed changed, Mithunda’s role cannot be relived and rejuvenated.