Bollywood’s Mrigayaa (The Royal Hunt) brought aspiring dreams to the global audience
The Royal Hunt for an Actor Mithun Chakraborty continues
There is no doubt that, Mithun Chakraborty is truly few of the actors who have won the prestigious National Award for the best actor in his maiden film, its undebatable to express that this movie showed an exemplary ability of his torrendous faculty that brought him the appropriate recognition in India and abroad. But this struggle was truly far from the making of the star status because he came in as an actor, the product of FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) is always an actor, not a star. It’s not surprising that Mithun’s debutant talent still remains unscathed, the movie is nearly 41 years old since its making and no director nor any producer or an art movie-maker has ever and would like to risk in remaking this classic cult because till now there is no replacement for Mithun Chakraborty and his extraordinarily histrionic skills that still affirms that the Movie Mrigayaa is far away from being remade.
To some extent its true for the current generation that Mrigayaa is remembered primarily because it was the debutant movie of Mithun Chakraborty, the dancing sensation (the pioneer of desi-disco), the dreams of emerging India, Myth-breaker that a dark complexioned Indian actor cannot be a commercially successful hero , he wrote a true story of a life-struggler who has re-defined the theory of Rags-to-Riches catapulting to streets-to-silver screen-to-Cine Association Head. But this classic movie has its own story to tell that the making would have continued as the producer were keen on making the movie as the script and message was very powerful and relevant to prevalent times as India needed a change but would have slowed down if the rightful protagonist did not materialize.
What strums every person’s heart about him is, his sovereignty by touching everyone through his dance grooves and an absolute new-comer in this dynasty-protected-industry to becoming a highest tax-payer in mid-1980’s undeniably by being a lead actor in the Bollywood films and still being a down to earth humble actor that could rule the hearts of the Bollywood fans for one full decade before the Khans and their ilk came into force. India loves success stories, which has been created out of zilch, this is one of the reasons 47 years back, destiny charted a journey for him from a political turmoil city of Calcutta to Mumbai through his first film Mrigayaa, wherein a protagonist perfect to T would be able to portray a rebellious rural villager bringing Rural India in the foreground against cruel establishment (shown as Britisher) and with his kindness uniting the village folks to create the masses that were rise against any oppressor.
As it’s been said and proved many times, a successful actor will always become a star material with a guarantee of commercial success , Mithun’s story is no less, over-all the Brand Mithun generated a cult, this thrice National Award winner, has Mithunized itself with series of hits with more than 350+ movies , hummable tunes, fancy names like Jimmy, Gun Master G-9 etc…and now pockets of rural-India , North-East of India and Russian countries offers proof of its ‘Mithunisation’. His posters are at every prominent public places symbolic with the 70’s Hairstyle and still today young boys emulate his hairstyle moreover fans and followers try to walk, talk, dress and dance like him. During the period of him helming both the Bollywood as the leading commercial actor with numerous hits and head of Cine associations was considered as the demi-God of the Indian Film Industry in the 80’s , the place where he grew up and spent his adolescent in the lane of Jorabagan in the North west of Kolkatta is very much revered even today and has huge number of fans paying visit on daily basis.
Cast as a tribal hunter implicated in a murder case, for which Mithun and Mrinal Sen bagged a National Award for Best Actor and Best Film respectively , The role of Ghinua Soren, the lead actor who rises against the oppressors to vanquish their evil desires , the depiction had to be an intense character with rebellious attitude, young ,youthful, having a tribal look, dark, slim, romantic gesture, eyes that speaks anger, agile, swift, the gait being rustic should evoke bit of jungle eroticism, movement that belies the Tiger, rustic and uncouth jungle behaviour, having an Hindi tone that is understandable by the Indian viewers , moreover could enamour the global audience with a sparkling smile that can lighten the darkness to some extent. The character was truly bit complex and finding the protagonist was not an easy job, for such kind of an actor, the search had to intense and focused.
Mrinal Sen , a Dadasaheb Phalke and a Padma Bhushan awardee , the sensitive and accomplished director of the Art Cinema having the script and character in mind , was desperate for the protagonist who could fulfil his Ghinua Soren role. The Royal hunt was secretly on for a He-Man who could be a perfect contour to demonstrate the character of a tribal person, Mrinal Sen often used to go to FTII to teach seminar courses and remembers seeing Mithun Chakraborty (during his tenure as a FTII student from 1972-1974 and later as a lecturer post his graduation in the Acting Course) this dusky, lean student during one of his visits to FTII in 1975. Vivid memories of this energetic, youthful and charming young man at the campus of the FTII Pune , which has stroked his chord and had etched his memory . When making of Mrigayaa came up, the right protagonist was in the need to play the lead role that could be a perfect fitment, the fresh memories of Mithun sprouted but could not recall the name of this Bengali student, he knew that his search has ended, at one glance he knew this was his Ghinua Soren for the very fact when he had set his eyes on him , he could visualize him as his Ghinua moving around as if the film was in process and had promptly decided to cast him in spite of having a doubt of this unsure and untested newcomer. With no details of Mithun’s coordinates, Mrinal could only think of connecting with this new find only through alternatives, not losing any moments, he soon got in touch with a common associate of a known friend who was an alumni of FTII, his DOP friend K K Mahajan, a noted cinematographer during the 1970 to 1990’s era and a four times National Award winner (one of the award won for Mrinal Sen’s Chorus , a 1974 Movie) , requested him to track this young man, who he wished to meet. It wasn’t that difficult for Mahajan to connect, as Mithun had got the message through a common friend, long before Mahajan set out to seek him, Mithun landed at the Filmistan studio where the cinematographer was shooting and sought his attention. Mahajan briefed him to get in touch with Mrinal Sen who was looking for him for his under production movie and also instructed him to send his freshly-shot photos. Mithun was in fix, as this meant expenditure, post the graduation ,he was barely meeting his ends as a lecturer in FTII Pune; undertaking this chance was the only option as the desperation took over, got his photo-shoot done , mailed it through Dadar Post-Office to the film-maker and headed for Pune to continue his teaching profession , unsure of the outcome.
Days passed by, teaching in FTII Pune and few struggles across the Mumbai studios, he managed to grab a role in Dulal Guha’s Amitabh Bachchan Starrer ‘ Do Anjane’ sharing the frame with the star himself on one of the highlighted scene of the movie along with Lalita Pawar, a highly noted, respected and a prolific leading and a character actress, who had appeared in over 700 multi-lingual films and was also honoured in the year 1961 by the Government of India as the first lady of Indian cinema. Call it a coincidence or a destiny his presence and the passing shot along with the stalwarts definitely made a mark in the movie and an impact to his career. Looking at the scene, anyone could say, Mithun had an indelible presence, this scene and the movie gave a testimony to his acting ability days ahead and an honorarium from the filmmaker that enabled him to go to Calcutta keeping a rendezvous in mind with Mrinal Sen, which bore him a path that began a long journey to stardom.
Kunal Sen , son of the legendary film maker, currently based in Chicago recalls “Around 1975 or could be earlier. Dad was moved by the compelling story he read from a book written by Bhagwati Charan Panigrahi some while ago and was toying with the idea of making this into a movie, later when approached by a financier, he decided to make it into a film, with Mithun in mind he thought of approaching him and felt If he couldn’t reach him, or if he didn’t like him when he came to Calcutta to see him, then I am sure he would have looked for someone else, but I don’t think he had anyone else in mind.” And destiny acknowledged as Mithun was in Calcutta and had come to meet him. The meeting affirmed Mrinal’s conviction but had to wait as the blueprint of the movie production was nearing completion, two to three months later with a final round of meeting in presence of an eminent film-maker, Mrinal Sen sealed the career of this young man, who would become the highest tax payer of the 80’s, with the signing amount of Rs.500 as the token for Mrigayaa that also gave the confidence to the debutante in achieving more awards in his forthcoming critically acclaimed movies.
As his body of work showcases, Mrinal Sen known to be Classic film maker and art-house heavyweight during the era of 1970’s, always believed in his conviction and belief, his intuition was so strong that, he was sure that his belief in his selection will never fail, during his travel to Kolkatta (Calcutta during 1975) his conviction about Mithun had created an imprint and was sure that there was no better choice than having Mithun Chakraborty in the lead role. Mithun had a good physique, lean look of tribal, dark, disarming smile, young enough and overall an intense look that defined the lead character of Ghinua Soren. Still unsure of plunging in with this untested protagonist, he decided to appraise carefully and this was going to be a final meeting with this young man in Kolkatta to know his choice or to be sure; whether this young newbie actor was willing to act in Mrigayaa or not? “Mithun looked slightly urban” recalls Kunal as quoted by Mrinal Sen to his son during his long chat with the future star “and contemporary with his thick fluffy hair and was aghast when he was told to cut off his hair to an unfashionable style, after bit of cajoling he yielded and the film went on floors.” Kunal Sen Remarks “Mithun agreed, as the film making was progressing on the drawing board, there was no looking back. If not for Mithun then Mrinal would have worked with someone else, but whether that person would have done it as well or not is impossible to tell? And once Mithun on the role, it was as if the role was customised for him, Mrinal was very happy with his performance and making of the movie went very smoothly.”
Actor Hemu Shetty , Speech Reformer and a well-known actor from Bollywood also being touted as the next Bollywood Villain and Bollywood Baddie, recently ranked favourite by bunt community within the inner circle as the promising Actor in the Tulu Cinema, ( now coined as TULUWOOD) and has also been nicknamed as the Tulu Actor and with his long experience as an acting coach , with an ability of a #HistrionicAnalyzer and penchant of an #HistrionicWriter , overall a celebrated self-styled campaigner of Mithun Chakraborty compliments , in regards to the movie “This movie had all the predatory elements of a Bollywood formula films, Corruption, friendship, betrayal, romance, treachery, attempt to rape, kidnap, revenge, anger, enemy chase, backdrop setting, plot, animal-hunt, serene landscape of the tribal India, Courtroom scene, extortion etc, what stood apart was the depiction of intense characterization that brought histrionics , exciting screenplay and individual acting skills forefront. Mithun with his intrinsic animal instinct stood apart exhibiting his flaming and burning desire to explode the Bollywood arena.” For a new comer just out of the acting Institute with a burning ambition, desperate to succeed, inherent with fame-hunger and hardship in life, Mithun emerged as the finest actor India has ever witnessed avers Actor Hemu Shetty “Mithun hardly looks a debutant, every shorts, scenes and passing moments he emerges as a story-teller and overall excels in intense scenes. He comes with intense force combined with an animal instinct to portray his diary of action and romance with torrendous faculty, exhibiting an exploding prowess in the screen” It gives a high credibility for a first timer just a fresher out of a acting institute without any significant experience to bag a National award as best actor for his maiden film.
Mithun ranks Mrigayaa as technically his noteworthy film that showcased his potential as one of the finest actors FTII and India has ever produced; and never fails to credit Mrinal Sen as his mentor. “He is my God because God gives you a chance and he gave me a chance,” he once told The Telegraph Newspaper.
Junior Mithun, aptly coined to Late Richard Jayakar, a very aspirational entity who used to eat, breathe, portray and caper every ounce of Mithun Chakraborty effortlessly like a carbon copy of the actor himself, a diehard fan of Mithun ; a childhood friend and a classmate of Actor Hemu Shetty commented post watching the movie aired in the Sunday slot of Doordarshan TV Channel in the late 80’s ” Mithun’s performance is yet so compelling , hard-hitting and so convincing in its role of a rebellious tribal yet romantic and kind at heart, looks as if who has lived all his life in tribal land and understands the environs, inherently entitled for rising to defend his people and his lady love Dungri , so beautifully essayed and portrayed by the talented Mamata Shankar, synergistically both making striking debuts. It displays tons and tons of accomplishment for a newcomer to achieve this recognition by the first movie itself, truly a born talent and value-add performer. “
His acting stood up and was really compelling in the movie till the end, expressed , Nalini Shetty, a diehard fan of Mithun ” even when I see this Mrinal Sen’s Mrigayaa movie today , as for my personal views were concerned about his journey of success and of movie’s accomplishments , his style, appeal , grace, looks and expression gave a strong feeling that he had a making of a future Bollywood star and Mrigayaa had to be memorable even till today because of milestones it created.”
Jayanta Bose a resident of Kolkatta , an ardent fan of Mithun and an active member of the premier fan club of Mithun in the residing city has been closely associated with Mithunda in regards to innumerable social work says ” Mithun’s performance in the movie was truly enchanting and very adorable; as a person He is truly a God in every sense, a dedicated performer for every role in the life.”
The script itself was intense, compelling and very much relevant to India, as it was subjected to bohemian, extortion, treachery and political power. Mithun’s indulgent in the character was very quick, just passed out from FTII and keen to assimilate (a highlight of a true learner and a basic step for a good actor), Kunal Sen who was closely associated with the team during the making of the movie says ” Considering Mithun’s ability we didn’t have to tweak the script, he effortlessly got under the nerves of the character, being around the genuine setting and the backdrop of the jungle, it became easier for him.” Excerpts from Mithun’s interview from one of the online portal in which he said “We landed at the location in the village near Massanjore which had a perfect setting of a semi-jungle located in the border of West Bengal and Bihar (now in Jharkhand) for two to three days, I was just made to observe, Mrinal was busy interacting with the locals, tribals and crew around the setting to get the feel of the same and I was constantly along with him to get into the skin of the character.”
Actor Hemu Shetty with his years of experiences , having acquired the ability of an #HistrionicAnalyzer and penchant of an #HistrionicWriter , overall a celebrated self-styled campaigner of Mithun Chakraborty exemplifies “A National Award doesn’t come by serendipity or by Luck, in 1970’s it was a difficult era, experiencing Hard-ship , Hunger, burning ambition and studiousness paid off, all combined in his persona and jet-filled energy that injected a slot in the minds of the viewers, building a new set of audience and fans, thereby creating a new slot in the Bharatwood.”
Says Masood Akhtar, a civil engineer-turned-actor and an avid Mithun Chakraborty fan, his invocation was so enormous that, by sheer luck it turned out that the movie ‘ Kasam Paida Karne wale ki’ got destined to be shot in Bangalore near an Engineering college where he was studying and this fan Masood Akhtar could not give up this opportunity of meeting his idol along with his classmate says ” Such a down to earth and an humble actor”, as he had confessed his love and adoration for the Mrigayaa movie which he has seen innumerable times and the star was moved a lot by his devotion for the same. Masood’s emotions for his star was filled up remarked ” Mithun not only won the richly deserved National Award at the 24th National Film Awards for the best actor and for the Best feature film, he also won the etched emotions of love and loyalty in the hearts of the people across the world for his extraordinary acting and dancing skills, it’s very apt for his acting ability that the fourth estate of the Bengal state also conferred him the prestigious BFJA (Bengali Film Journalist Association ) Awards for the Best Actor for movie Mrigayaa. Good work with devotion pays in true sense, it also won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie apart from being nominated for the Golden Prize at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival in 1977, truly commendable.”
Ongoing discussion with Masood Akhtar in regards to suggesting value-add inputs for the story, Actor Hemu Shetty further adds ” Both of us agree that Mithun won the abundantly justifiable National Award for the best actor and to add up the same the film too received the best film of the year award because of perfect cast and apt script that went along with the whole crew, Mithun is the only solo lead star graduated from FTII to become the most sought , saleable and a highly commercial star (the status that’s been held till today), who has crisscrossed from parallel to commercial cinema, winning awards, accolades and has a huge chunk of fans following across the world.”
Narendranath Dasgupta , a veteran journalist, movie buff, currently a PR professional and a connoisseurs of Hindi, western and Bengali films says “Mrinal who believed in closer to life characterization had made a highly meaningful cinema, no crass music, no frivolous dance and dialogues, the message conveyed was based on contemporary experiential’s. It was cinema that came closest to the ground reality the Mrinal Sen way, the corruption and feudalism of rural India is hardly visible in Indian cinema in these times but this was a story that remained true to its course. Mrigayaa had all the elements of ground realities that prevailed during his time and now traces also remains in few pockets of India in the modern form. The natural settings, Sen’s powerful direction, forceful messaging and the support of a dedicated skilled crew contributed to conjure this off-the-established-track offering, which helped him to win the rightly deserved National Award for best film and Mithun as Ghinua Soren too scored the National award for the best actor that deemed appropriate, a good platform and a head start for a perfect actor.”
Actor Hemu Shetty, who specializes in doing villainize roles finds the Zamindar character interesting and exciting and assumes proximity to the negative role done appropriately says ” look!….Here, enters the human beast, the despicable money merchant, eyeing the young helpless women folk with his vicious, hungry and lecherous eyes played brilliantly by Sajal Roychudhury, much to the anger of Ghinua Soren, the protagonist portrayed impeccably by Mithun, it is Mithun’s eyes and gestures scorching with seething anger, on the verge of explosion , that steal the show.” Hard to believe it was Mithun’s debut movie. He dominates the frame whenever he graces the screen, looking every bit of a tribal with a good heart but possessing a fire within to protest, ignite and fight injustice. He is a hunter by nature, his big catches attracting big rewards from the British administrator, played by Robert Wright, who spent many years in good old Calcutta working as the top executive at the Tollygunge Club in Calcutta. Actor Hemu Shetty further supplements “In Ghinua’s death, the village folk, led by Dungri, come to discover the way to fight, to be counted in their own simple manner. What strikes you most is Mithun’s histrionic incursions as he carries the movie on his shoulder single-handedly. His dialogues are brash and loud when needed but he uses his expressions superbly to animate the role.”
Watcher of this movie for innumerable times, Masood Akhtar who claims to be an enthusiastic fan of Mithun Chakraborty and is keen to supplement with enormous complements to this blog for the very fact of being bowled by extraordinary sense of film-making by Mrinal Sen, this director also to be known as the maverick film-maker also a Dadasaheb Phalke awardee and a Padma Bhushan awardee. Masood couldn’t stop exclaiming after experiencing the passionate multi-views, now given an opportunity to express his views and also willing to double up as a critic for the Bollywood remarked ” Ten points to this movie, from the one-to-ten scale, Mrigayaa is truly an excellent and a remarkable movie, highlighting the essence and experiential of British India, it’s been more than 41 years, nobody has ever thought of re-making the same and I am sure the current generation film maker will shudder the thought of remaking the same as they inherently lack the skill , quality and approach of what Mrinal Sen had. This classiness’ you could expect only from Mrinal Sen to achieve it. A pity they don’t make movies like this anymore; it just won’t fit into the multiplex, cozy hand-holding movie-viewing mood, popcorn-and-cold-drink culture. Over and above, nobody would also dare to go and shoot in the naxal prone areas to get the originality. Truly decades and decades back Mrinal had re-defined the way of making even the art-films to a large extent.” Further to this Masood has expressed his sadness even after reading this blog, no producer will ever come forward to re-make this movie. Is his lamenting justifiable?
Social media is full of Mithun Chakraborty Fan clubs:
A regular watcher of Mithun movies since her childhood and a fan of Mithun ,Sapna Sen says, “Mithun broke the traditionalism of a lead actor, he was the first actor in Hindi movies to be an all- in- one material, who came with a jovial and benign look to entertain and rule the masses to give a complete worth of their money. This tall, dark, charming and handsome boy who stole the heart of millions with his debut film in 1976 still continues to entertain the audience with his amazing moves, exceptional wit, awesome performances, punchy actions and attractive looks, the show in Bollywood will change, many will come and go, but Mithun will remain always immortal.”
A content writer from a social media company based in Kolkata, Surojit Nag and an ardent fan, steady follower and an ardent watcher of Mithun’s movies says ” Mrigayaa is one of the finest movies of Mithun’s which display his acting skills and I remember most of the scenes from the movie despite seeing once during my early years, one of best scene is in the courtroom where he confesses killing the animal metaphorically indicating a devilish human pleading not guilty. All the scenes enacted are memorable and the movie is class apart, if the movie is to be re-made and the protagonist which I feel can very much closely resemble Ghinua is none other than the actor Aamir Khan, who can give complete justice to the character in evaluation on the basis the actor’s earlier roles in Lagaan and Ghajini performed to uttermost …….of course the director of the remake should have the calibre of Mrinal Sen.”
Social media is inundated with Mithun Fan Clubs and a whole lot of conversations occur continuously between the followers , fans and Mithun enthusiasts , one of them with enormous number of followers is Abhirup Gosh nicknamed , Wafaa Mithun, who manages a Facebook page , titled Mithun Chakraborty Great Kingdom says (quoted ad verbatim in his FB Post) ” Sen’s 1976 film ‘Mrigayaa’ is a classy film. Honestly, Our great Mithun Chakraborty is the life of this film. I mean this was his first debut film and he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. Wow! His performance here, despite being his debut, leaves you stunned….Performance Wise, I can’t help myself but to praise Mithun’s performance. I’ve been shock and I am proud to know that India has a talent like Mithun……On the whole, ‘Mrigayaa’ is a classy watch. Mithun’s performance alone, is enough to keep you gripped. Two Thumbs Up!”
Dipankar Chakraborty from Shibupur feels short of words as his love for Mithun is too engulfing for him, says ” I have seen multiple times in Youtube, his role as Ghinua is unique and I see that there is no replacement for Mithun, he has done excellently well, his best scene is the one which he boasts about his skills with dungri his wife in the movie.”
A teacher by profession, Nitin Gujarati from Jamnagar , has his facebook page inundated with his emotions and passion for Mithun replied ” Mithun has achieved a lot today however this was a prediction one got from watching the Mrigayaa movie looking at his acting and winning of the prestigious National Award for the best actor, truly an accomplished in terms of being the most versatile actor , best dancer , an action star and an incomparable star of Indian Cinema and one of the most famous Indian stars in Russia.”
Says Abu Aamir from Bandipur, when queried upon, who he thinks can be replacement for Mithun, if the film is supposed for remaking ” I have seen Mrigayaa Movie in my childhood days, I enjoy every part of the movie….Mithun Chakraborty, The Talent King has Given 100% performance in this debut movie, if Mrigayaa is to be remade….First , second and third choice Is Only Mithunda 4th choice it can be Aamir 0r Shahrukh Khan……..Mithun Chakraborty Is My Heartbeat….no one can replace him.”
Actor Hemu Shetty who has a fine connoisseur in picking up the heart gripping scenes in a movie that define the highlight of the histrionic senses of the movie, would like to share few of the scenes that really stirred him and the below-mentioned scenes have special fondness because he has been smitten by the same, professes ” Mithun has invested more-than-what-he-can-offer in the movie, Imagine an actor, who being a non-Hindi conversationalists took enormous efforts in nurturing the language by thrusting himself to its best so that he gets an utmost fluency of the dialect, provide justice to the character, sacrifice all his efforts for the value-add for the movie; hence the outcome was fruitfully enormous, first Film getting a National Award it speaks volumes for a Newcomer and Mithun had volumes and volumes of talent”
It’s not surprising that Mithun’s debutant talent still remains untouched, the movie is nearly 41 years old , released in the month of June in the year 1976, since its making no director nor any producer has ever risked and would like to risk in remaking this classic cult because till now there is no replacement for him and his extraordinarily histrionic skills . Mrigayaa (The Royal Hunt) for remake of Mrigayaa (The 1976 Movie) will never end as Mrinal Sen’s power packed movie needs an appropriate overall reprise, this again is an hard hitting message that Mithun is truly irreplaceable, you get only one of his ilk in the millennium. Mithun with his huge success and glory has brought and will continue bringing aspiring dreams to Indians and global audience.
Acknowledgements from Actor Hemu Shetty :
Mrigayaa movie has been my favourite , most memorable and mind-etched movie from all the facades since its inception. I still remember the movie poster which was published in the cinema pages of The Times of India during my school days. The Movie takes the viewers and the unknowledgeable Urban India into the deepest part of the country where the feudalism, bohemianism and exploitation of the draconian law existed. Along the other things, even the deepest friendship becomes unreliable and treachery is uncommon. In my deepest inside, an urge had triggered me to write this piece in regards to the paramount protagonist of the two entities that gave this wonderful classic and won the most prestigious award of that time, the National Award. I am not a good writer, it’s just an urge that has erupted from within because of my fixation for this movie.
Deepest regards and heartfelt thankful ness for the kind support from Kunal Sen, son of the legendary film maker, without his support and co-operation , the very opportunity of catering the viewers of the Movie Mrigayaa and the fans of Mrinal and Mithun. From my perspective getting an actor who could be tight-fit for Ghinua’s role was a distant catch, it was destiny that brought Mithun and Mrinal together. Again a coincidence both of them share the same Alma Mater, St Scottish Church College in Kolkatta,the very words which has been shared by most of the fans who follow them adoringly and would like to dedicate their allegiance for this classic movie.
Courtesy to all who has been very supportive in providing all the necessary inputs to complete this piece, this is not an original work, the authenticity is through all the inputs, quotes, narratives that has been gathered by speaking and writing to people who gave pertinent inputs to fulfill the same. It was easier to pick up many nuances and conversations from the Facebook and other social media from where I could make this content rich; similarly Images and pictures have been sourced through innumerable loyal fan clubs of Mithun and groups operating in the web.
I cannot hold myself in re-iterating my inner desire of thanking to both father for his immense contribution in building this institution and to his son for providing me the valuable inputs, which will remain very valuable throughout my life. Kunal did his best in providing all that was and could have been possible to share, deeply moved by his reply when I had put forward my request, I couldn’t restrain the impatience of sharing the emailed quote which is as follows ” I am glad to hear that you have such respect towards Mithun, my father, and the film. Unfortunately my father is not capable of responding to the (or any) questions at this point. Over the last few years he has lost a lot of his mental functions and cannot remember much or process his thoughts well. At 93 years that is not all that surprising. He is also not in a position to talk on the phone any more. I am really sorry to disappoint you.” Deepest regards to Kunal Sen, for giving his valuable inputs on behalf of Mrinal Sen, I extend my valuable thanksgiving to you on behalf of the loyal Mrinal Sen and Mithun fans across the world, to make this possible.