Mithun Chakraborty made his acting debut with 1976 Bengali film Mrigya for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. He later joined the Hindi film industry and starred in several popular films like Suraksha where he played the character of spy Gunmaster G9, its sequel Wardat and the critically acclaimed Hum Paanch. 

However, it was the 1982 film Disco Dancer that catapulted him to stardom not only in India but also overseas. The B Subhash directorial featured a chartbuster soundtrack and was a rage in several parts of the world particularly in the Soviet Union where it became the highest grossing foreign film. 

The film turned out to be the first blockbuster of Mithun’s career and made him an overnight sensation. 

© B Subhash Movie Unit

Post Disco Dancer, Mithun delivered several other massive hits like Jagir, Pyar Jhukta Nahin, Ghulami and Kasam Paida Karne Waale Ki. 

In the ‘90s, Mithun started focusing more on his Hotel business in Ooty and mostly starred in B-grade films that he’d shoot in and around his hotel. These films were low budget and often turned out profitable at the box office. 

By mid-’00s, he transformed into a character actor and starred in films like Veer, Kick, Boss, Chandni Chowk To China etc. But, he wasn’t the lead character in any of those films. 

In recent years, he wasn’t seen much on-screen but in 2022, the unthinkable happened. 

The yesteryear superstar starred in Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files. The film turned out to be a box office phenomenon and became a huge blockbuster on course to go past Rs 200 crore in India alone. 

© Zee Studios

With the blockbuster success of The Kashmir Files, Mithun Chakraborty created a unique box office record of delivering blockbusters 40 years apart. His first being in 1982 and his latest in 2022. 

There have been other more successful actors than him who have been doing well in their second innings but none own the record of having blockbusters to their names for such a long span of time being a lead actor.

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