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La Familia: Mithun Chakraborty’s son Namashi says as a child he would cry if a villain hit his dad on screen
Besides Disco Dancer, Mithun Chakraborty is famously known for Mrinal Sen’s iconic Mrigayaa, Buddhadev Dasgupta’s National Award winning Tahader Katha and GV Iyer’s Swami Vivekananda.
Whenever we mention Mithun Chakraborty, Disco Dancer is the first movie name that comes to our mind. However, Mithun da - as he is fondly called by his fans, admirers and close ones - has played a variety of roles in his more than four decades long career. Besides Vijay Sadanah’s Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Ravikant Nagaich’s Wardat and Raj N Sippy’s Boxer, the actor-turned-politician is also famously known for Mrinal Sen’s iconic Mrigayaa, Buddhadev Dasgupta’s National Award winning Tahader Katha and GV Iyer’s Swami Vivekananda, among a plethora of other other popular films.
There is so much that we have known about Mithun da, however there’s a lot that we don’t know too. Which is why Pinkvilla got in touch with the actor’s son Namashi to know more about his superstar father. The young actor was born in Mumbai but had shifted to Ooty with his family in late 1994 after his dad had invested in the hotel business. “Despite living in Ooty, dad would do 2 to 3 shifts in a day. He was not only a superstar, but an extensively busy man too, which he still is. So as a child I only saw him in the morning, when he would get ready for work, and more often than not he would return back after all of us would have gone to bed. We would get to spend time with him on every second Sunday, when he took an off. So I didn't see him much back then because he was always working,” shares Namashi.
Namashi adds that when he was young, he would get scared when his father’s fans would chase the actor. “I didn’t know he was a big star, so when he would take me on shoots or on a rare holiday, I would get worried when people ran behind him and clicked pictures with him. His female fans would kiss him on his cheeks, and I would wonder why they are all behind my father,” laughs Namashi.
He shares another interesting anecdote about his father. “Back in Ooty, one day I would see him dressed as a cop, the other day as a politician and some day as a goon. So I went up to my mother and told her that dad isn’t very good at his job, because he keeps changing professions everyday. I got this idea because my friends’ fathers would do the same thing on a regular basis. I remember my mother had laughed out loud, reassuring me that dad is excellent at what he does,” Namashi recalls, adding that it was only when he started watching his father’s films, is when he knew that Mithun da is an actor.
Whenever Amrish Puri Saab, Shakti Kapoor ji, Gulshan Grover ji, Ranjeet ji or Puneet Issar ji, came to our hotel, I would see them and just run back to my room
Namashi
Namashi informs that back then a lot of films would get shot in Ooty, and he would often see many big Bollywood stars in their hotel. “It was like Mumbai’s Film City for us. In fact, in the same hotel my father had made a small theatre for our guests’ entertainment, so sometimes we would also watch his film trials there. I remember whenever an onscreen villain would hit my father I would start crying. In fact, whenever Amrish Puri Saab, Shakti Kapoor ji, Gulshan Grover ji, Ranjeet ji or Puneet Issar ji, came to our hotel, I would see them and just run back to my room. I would be surprised when my dad would hug them, wondering why he is mingling with those bad guys. Shakti sir is my dad’s best friend, and I would be so scared when he would come over,” laughs Namashi.
He adds that whenever Mithun da gets time, he loves to cook. “That’s his way to chill. At home he is a very simple guy. Recently when he got a two days break from his Amazon Prime show, all he did was cook. He has great culinary skills, and whenever he is free we know that we are going to be treated with some scrumptious food. His Kosha Mutton and Chicken Biryani are delicious, but even the vegetarian food that he makes is to die for. The other thing he likes doing is to spend time with our dogs,” informs Namashi.
One evening when I came out of my van, I saw some 200 odd people waiting there. I was ecstatic until I realised that my dad’s car was parked right behind my van
Namashi
Interestingly, like most families, the Chakrabortys don’t have a family WhatsApp group. “We had made one, but all we did in that group was fight with each other. So we very respectfully deleted that later. But we all stay in the same house in Madh Island. We shifted back to Mumbai in 2007, and have been living here since then. All of us have always stayed together,” smiles Namashi.
He will soon make his film debut with Rajkumar Santoshi’s Bad Boy. Mithun da had paid him a surprise on his set in 2019 when the debutant was shooting for the film in Bangalore. “One evening when I came out of my van, I saw some 200 odd people waiting there. I was ecstatic until I realised that my dad’s car was parked right behind my van, and all of them were there for him. They were all cheering for him, but as soon as they realised that I am his son they cheered for me too. Truly, there is no one like him,” Namashi says emotionally.
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