On Monday (September 30), Mithun Chakraborty was announced as the newest recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest honour in cinema. The veteran actor may have appeared in over 350 films across multiple Indian languages in a career spanning almost five decades, but he’s largely remembered for reinventing the image of the mainstream Bollywood hero with films like Disco Dancer, Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki, and Dance Dance, all of which, incidentally, were directed by B Subhash.
In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, the veteran director, who gave Chakraborty his first commercial success, expresses his joy over the actor’s big win. “I saw the national media reporting that the Dadasaheb Phalke Award has been given to the ‘Disco Dancer’. It feels like our film has won this huge honour (laughs). I sent him a message, and he replied, saying that he’s grateful for everything I’ve done for him. We share a great relationship,” says Subhash, who also directed Chakraborty in Taqdeer Ka Badshah.
Talking about why he chose to cast Chakraborty—who still wasn’t widely known at the time—in Taqdeer Ka Badshah, Subhash says, “I cast him in the film despite our producer Ram Dayal not being very keen on it. But I told him that Mithun was very different from the other actors. His face and personality were unique.” It was during the shooting of this film that Chakraborty confided in Subhash, expressing his concerns that his career might not take off the way he wanted.
Narrating what happened next, Subhash shares, “One day, I noticed he looked very upset and troubled. When I asked, Mithun, almost in tears, said that despite working so hard, nothing good was happening in his career, and the same cycle was repeating. I told him at that time that I had a script in mind that could make him a big star. That film was Disco Dancer.”
And that marked the beginning of the euphoria that would soon surround Chakraborty. “When I mentioned the title to him, I saw a spark in his eyes. The name clicked something in him, and he agreed to do the film. I was also a struggling director at that time, without many successes to my name. In those days, there was a newspaper published every Friday called Screen,” he recalls.
The director of Aandhi-Toofan and Adventures of Tarzan further adds, “The people at Screen liked my work and published an article—‘B Subhash to direct Disco Dancer starring Mithun Chakraborty.’ When it came out, I felt there was nationwide intrigue and excitement about the film. I went all out for it. I remember Shakti Samanta telling me, ‘Itna paisa! Itna bada set laga ke rakha hai.’”
Subhash is glad that the producers of Disco Dancer ‘took a chance with the film.’ However, it wasn’t an instant money-spinner upon release. It picked up pace over time and earned a global fan base following its screening at the Moscow Film Festival.
“The Russians received it well, unanimously, and it became extremely huge all over the world. Four out of the six or seven films being mentioned by the media in articles about Mithun’s Dadasaheb Phalke win are mine. He still respects me. At an event dedicated to Bappi Lahiri a while ago, Mithun saw me, stood up, and touched my feet. He told everyone, ‘Whatever I am today is because of B Subhash,’” concludes Subhash.
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