Mahaguru to Grandmaster
Mithun Chakraborty on his newfound tv avatar and life at, er, 48...

Mithun Chakraborty at the launch of Dance India Dance. Picture by Sudeshna Banerjee
Mithun Chakraborty is living out of his suitcase these days. Back from a stint in Jaipur, he is in Calcutta for the shooting of Dance Bangla Dance and the dubbing of Shukno Lanka. He will soon be back in Jodhpur to complete work for the Salman Khan-starrer Veer. After that, he will have to get back to Mumbai to play the Grand Master (judge) in Zee TV’s new show Dance India Dance.

With so many projects scattered across the country, how are you managing time?

I am in transit all the time. I worked till 4am and then caught the 6am flight to Calcutta. I was dubbing all day, now I am off to shoot for Dance Bangla Dance.

How has Aritra (the kid host of Dance Bangla Dance) reacted to his Mahaguru becoming the Grand Master on the national channel?

Very well. Both Aritra and Bittu have the names of participants, who belongs to which toli and which gang, at the tip of their tongues.

You seem to have become quite close to the children in Dance Bangla Dance…

Otherwise, do you think they would have opened up? Their friendship with me is the fulcrum of the show. I have to climb down to their age and interact with them. The other day Bittu gave me such a body missile (hit on the body)! I have to withstand all that. I even have names for them — dhopeswar, jingalala…

How would you compare the level of dancing in the two shows?

The participants on Dance Bangla Dance are very good. If they can get the level of training that the boys and girls get from the choreographers in Mumbai, they will rock. The training in Mumbai is fantastic.

The winners of the regional round of Zee Bangla’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa get direct entry to Zee TV’s national singing competition. Would that option be there for the winner of Dance Bangla Dance?

Dance Bangla Dance is the No. 1 TRP show in Bengal and it will stay that way even if I am not there tomorrow. So winning that in itself is an achievement. But yes, I will make that suggestion in Mumbai.

In Dance India Dance, the first-round elimination claimed the only participant from Calcutta — Subho Das. Your comments.

One does become emotional to see people having to leave the show. But I have to judge on the basis of talent, not which state someone is coming from. Subho was fantastic. I am sure he will do well.

Salman Khan, your co-star in Veer, was present in one of the episodes of Dance India Dance. Will you invite artistes from Bengal who have settled in Mumbai?

Salman is very close to us. He is like my younger brother and he is a common man’s hero. So he came for the inaugural show. But usually we try to avoid celebrities. The participants are the celebrities of our show.

Tell us about Veer…

The scale of the film is mind-boggling. It is the biggest film that we have ever worked in. The story is on the Pindaris, a warrior tribe of Rajasthan, whom the British used to call terrorists. They were absolute devils on horses. I am the head of 15,000 horsemen. Sohail and Salman are my sons. The other day, we shot a fighting sequence with 1,000 men. After 18 years, I rode a horse at full gallop.

Haven’t you signed a Bengali film opposite Rituparna too?

Yes, it is called Bishphoron. There is action but there are some environmental issues too. There is a silent relationship with Rituparna. She is a good actress and very glamorous.

Kolkata Knight Riders franchise owner Shah Rukh Khan has put Sourav Ganguly in the judge’s chair for Knights and Angels. Any suggestions for him? And what about your plans for Bengal Tigers in ICL?

I like Sourav a lot. But I should not be giving advice to him. As for ICL, the way the situation is shaping up, let’s see how the tournament takes off.

Ever since your return to Hindi films, which would you rate as your best performance?

Look out for Shukno Lanka. I play a junior artiste. It is a story of a common man and his dreams. Samir Chanda’s Ekti Nadir Golpo and Shukno Lanka will be the best acting of my life. I am very happy with Phir Kabhi also. It has Dimple and me in fantastic roles. Another film Zor Laga ke Haiyya (with Mahesh Manjrekar, Gulshan Grover and Riya Sen) has been adjudged best film in a festival, it is now going to Hawaii film festival. My work in it is also good.

How does it feel to think that your best work is in the future at the age of 58?

I am 48. Every day is a new day. I am an actor. I take each role as it comes.

SUDESHNA BANERJEE