Mithun Chakraborty’s speech after Dadasaheb Phalke win: Was insulted for dark skin
MUMBAI,OCT 8 : Actor Mithun Chakraborty was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award on Tuesday, October 8 by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu. The 74-year-old got emotional while accepting the award, and focussed on his struggles as a dark-skinned actor in the industry during his first speech after the win.
Chakraborty, who is also a recipient of Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award by the government of India, mentioned how he was trolled and disrespected as a dark-skinned man in the industry. “I was told ‘film industry me kaala rang nahi chalega’. Jitna apmaan ho sakta tha, hua [I was told there’s no place for dark-skinned actors like me in the film industry. They humiliated me as much as they could],” he said.
Mithun Da, as he is lovingly called, added that he would complain to God about his appearance and there came a time when he finally decided to look beyond his skin colour and focus on his dancing skills. Celebrated as India’s original ‘Disco Dancer’, the veteran actor said, “I decided to dance then. I wanted people to look at my feet, not at my face or my skin colour. Sab filmon me pairon se dance kiya, aur log mere rang ko bhul gaye [I danced with my feet and people forgot to look at my colour].”
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He further advised aspiring actors in the film industry to never stop dreaming. Chakraborty referred to his own journey and told young people “if I can do it, anybody can do it.”
The popular star also spoke about winning his other National Awards earlier and how that made him arrogant. Chakraborty said he had started behaving like Al Pacino (a legendary American actor), but soon realised that he was not going get any work in the industry if he continued with his attitude.
He concluded his speech by telling everyone something that he often says: “Khud so jana lekin apne sapno ko mat sone dena [You sleep, but never let your dreams go to sleep].”
Mithun Chakraborty received a standing ovation at the ceremony.
-PTI
