Mithun Chakraborty - Film Career - 1980s

1980s

Mithun had much success in Bollywood throughout the 1980s, being a part of over 110 releases. The minimum guarantee tag he earned with the hit film Surakshaa continued with its sequel Wardat. His lead roles in Hum Paanch, Unees-Bees and Aadat Se Majboor made him the most bankable star of the 1980s. He had also done lighter roles in Shaukeen, Sun Sajna and Aamne Samne, which made him a favourite among family audience. But Disco Dancer directed by B. Subhash became the real blockbuster in 1982, the breakthrough role of musical drama which was a huge success and remains a cult favorite to this day. Along with Disco Dancer and other musical films such as Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki and Dance Dance in a time where dancing was essentially a woman's forté in India, showcased him as a talented dancer. As Amitabh Bachchan moved to politics, Mithun became the numero uno of Bollywood with consistent hit films and became Bollywood' s second highest paid star after Big B. He also became India's highest tax payer in 1986. Chakraborty went on to star in a number of successful romantic and family dramas during the 1980s, such as Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye, Ghar Ek Mandir, Pyaar Jhukta Nahin, Swarag Se Sunder and Pyaar Ka Mandir. These films remain his most commercially successful films to date. He was also widely recognized as an action hero in hit films like Jagir (1984), Jaal, Dilwaala (1986), Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987) and Waqt Ki Awaz.His action movies always were a hit especially in B and C class theatres. However his teaming with Amitabh Bachchan again in Ganga Jamuna Saraswati flopped, but Mithun had a good teaming with Jeetendra and Dharmendra in many successful movies of the 1980s. His good performances never won any award in 1986 and 1987 as Filmfare Awards was never announced due to technical reasons. As Mithun always had higher number of releases, sometimes it affected the business of his own films as happened in 1989, where he had a record 19 films. Still some of his films like Jeete Hain Shaan Se, Ilaaka and Mujrim were successful. Had he concentrated in spacing out his releases, the success ratio would have been higher.