Mithun Chakraborty has reacted to being left out of the Kolkata Film Festival, and he did not hold back while talking about it. The actor took a sarcastic dig at the organisers and compared the situation in Bengal with the welcome he is receiving from a film festival in Moscow.
Mithun said he has been invited to the Moscow Film Festival but did not receive an invitation from the event in Kolkata. “I wasn’t invited to the film festival,” Mithun Chakraborty said while speaking to the media on Friday, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
He then pointed to the difference between the two events. “I am going to Moscow now; perhaps they will invite me. They are inviting me to the Moscow Film Festival. Yet, here in Bengal, I wasn’t invited.”
The actor also appeared to joke about his standing in Bengali cinema. Mithun suggested that his limited number of Bengali film roles may have worked against him when invitations were being sent out.
“Main bahut chota artiste hoon, shayad isliye nahi bulaya (I am a very minor artiste. Maybe that’s why they didn’t invite me),” he said.
Mithun’s comments came during his visit to Kolkata for a meeting connected with the birth centenary celebrations of Uttam Kumar. The Bengali cinema icon’s 100th birth anniversary is being marked through a year-long programme.
Uttam Kumar, born Arun Kumar Chatterjee on September 3, 1926, remains one of the biggest names in Bengali cinema. He also worked in Hindi films as an actor, director and producer.
His career did not take off easily. Several early films failed at the box office, earning him the nickname “Flop Master General”. Basu Paribar in 1952 changed things, while Sharey Chuattor a year later made him a major star. His pairing with Suchitra Sen became one of Bengali cinema’s most remembered screen partnerships.
In 1967, Uttam Kumar became the first winner of the National Film Award for Best Actor. He was recognised for his performances in Anthony Firingee and Chiriyakhana. He died on July 24, 1980, aged 53.
Mithun will next be seen in Jailer 2. He will make a cameo in the Rajinikanth-led film, which is scheduled to release in 2027.