The last underclass action hero

Multiplexes generally ignore his movies. Critics dismiss his films with a single star rating. And, statutory warning, taking a city-slick, sold-on-Saif girlfriend to one of his starrers could be injurious to the relationship. But in the boondocks of central and eastern India, Mithun Chakraborty rules.

The hinterland’s Hero No 1 is not the same actor who once earned acclaim and award in Mrinal Sen’s Mrigaya back in 1976. Or, the pelvis-thrusting, crotch-crutching floorscorcher who even wowed Russia as a Disco Dancer (1982). It’s a C-grade action hero they root for. Someone who since the mid-Nineties started making movies with titles that sound more like abuse: Chandaal, Gunda, Yamraaj and worse.

So why is the mofussil sold on Mithun ? Unlike Sunny Deol, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgun, or even Govinda, Mithun is the only star who has not tried to remodel himself for the cash-rich multiplex audience. With every other star being co-opted, he is the last action hero the underclass can relate to. A class which prefers Ma Kasam to Main Hoon Naa and Billa No 786 to Black.

Mithun caters to crowd who wants stories with corrupt policemen and crooked politician; characters they see in daily life and can identify with. And, they want it in their own high-pitched, no-apologies style. A Mithun film gives them all that.

And, so they ask for his movies. Again and again. And watch them in the comforts of their home in the interiors of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Chhatisgarh, Bengal and, hold it!, Meghalaya. Long live Mithun da.