Shabana Azmi: ‘Mithun Chakraborty was very conscious of his dark skin, my mom made him drop his inhibitions’

Shabana Azmi has said that Mithun Chakraborty was conscious of his dark skin, jutting teeth and that is why he used to smile with his mouth closed. Shabana added that his parents often helped newcomers and ‘strugglers’ in Mumbai, and her mom Shaukat Kaifi was the one who helped Mithun shed his inhibitions. (Also read: Namashi wishes dad Mithun Chakraborty hadn’t done Gunda)

Mithun Chakraborty made his debut with the 1976 film Mrigayaa which bagged him his first National Award. Later, he featured in popular movies such as Disco Dancer, Wardat, Boxer, and Agneepath among others. In early 2000s, Mithun switched to character roles and was most recently seen in Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files.

“Janki Kutir was a place where all kinds of strugglers were always coming, and whether it was Abba or Mummy, they were always encouraging. When I was straight out of the institute, a lot of my institute friends, who had no place to stay in Bombay, would come and stay with us. Some would be house guests, like Zarina Wahab and Kanwaljit Singh,” Shabana Azmi told CNN in a new interview.

She added, “But Mithun Chakraborty, was very conscious of the fact that he had jutting teeth, so he used to always smile (with his mouth closed). And he was also conscious of the fact that he had dark skin. This, in spite of the fact that he had worked in the institute, and a lot of those insecurities had gone. But I really, really have to give it to my parents, particularly my mother, who encouraged him so much, and she made him drop his inhibitions. That was something I really appreciated.”

Last year, Mithun Chakraborty had also opened up a out facing tough times in his starting days in the industry. During his appearance on the singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs, Mithun had said he’d not want anyone to make a biopic on him.

“I never want anybody to go through what I have gone through in life. Everyone has seen struggles and fought through difficult days, but I was always called out for my skin colour. I have been disrespected for a lot of years because of my skin colour and I have seen days when I had to sleep with an empty stomach, and I used to cry myself to sleep. And that’s the only reason I don’t want my biopic to be ever made! My story will never inspire anyone, it will break them down (mentally) and discourage people from achieving their dreams,” he had said.