Mithun Chakraborty joins BJP: disco dancer's journey from cinema to politics

National award winning actor turned politician Mithun Chakraborty was formally inducted in to the BJP ahead of the Bengal assembly polls. Mithun is a big name in Bengal and in the words of the state BJP vice president Arjun Singh his joining the party ‘will be good for both the party and the state’. From a ‘disco dancer’ to a ‘grand master’ and now a BJP member - Mithun da as he is fondly called in Bengal has mostly remained in the limelight.

Mithun kick-started his acting career with Mrinal Sen's Mrigayaa in 1976 and won the National award for Best Actor but it was the 1982 film Disco Dancer that popularised him as one of the best 'dancing-heroes' in Bollywood, with the youth trying to imitate his moves.

In a career spanning four decades Mithun has acted in over 350 films across mediums including in some hit masala Bengali flicks. Recently, he has starred in hit films like Housefull 2, OMG - Oh My God. His appearance on a dance show on TV as judge has earned him a huge fan following in recent years.

However, history could have been different. It is widely reported that he was a Naxalite before entering films, but returned to his family and left the fold after he lost his brother in a tragic accident.

Mithun was once known to be extremely close to CPM leader, the late Subhash Chakraborty, who he said was like his elder brother. He however distanced himself from the Left when Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee took over as Bengal’s chief minister in 2000.

In 2014, just before the general elections, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee nominated the star to Rajya Sabha on a Trinamool ticket but he quit the upper house in 2016 soon after his name cropped up in Saradha chit fund scam. Years later the former TMC MP joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Brigade rally in Kolkata.

Mithun the politician tried to capitalise on his stardom as he delivered his popular dialogue ‘marbo ekhaney...lash porbay shoshaney (will beat you up here, your body will land at the crematorium)’ but also added that it will not remain just a dialogue any more. ‘I am pure cobra’, he said as he threw a challenge at the opposition.

Also Read: Actor Mithun Chakraborty joins BJP in Kolkata, will share stage with PM Modi