‘Chota artist hu, islie nahi bulaya’: Mithun Chakraborty reacts to being snubbed by Kolkata Film Festival organisers

Padma Bhushan recipient and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty revealed that he was not invited to the film festival in Kolkata, despite attending a meeting to mark the birth centenary of Bengali cinema icon Uttam Kumar.

"I wasn't invited to the film festival," Chakraborty said while speaking to the media in Kolkata on Friday. He contrasted the reported snub with an upcoming visit to Moscow, saying, “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 'Disco Dancer' actor also suggested that he may have been sidelined as a "minor artist" as he has done a few roles in Bengali cinema, while pointing to the frequent invitations extended to figures who do not have a direct connection with Bengal. “Main bahut chota artiste hoon, shayad isliye nahi bulaya (I am a very minor artiste. Maybe that's why they didn't invite me),” the actor added sarcastically.

The remarks came against the backdrop of preparations for a year-long programme to mark the centenary of Uttam Kumar, widely revered as the "Mahanayak" of Bengali cinema. The cine icon was a major figure in Bengali cinema and also attained success in Hindi films.

Born Arun Kumar Chatterjee on September 3, 1926, Uttam Kumar was an actor, director and producer who became one of the most influential figures in Bengali cinema. He died on July 24, 1980, aged 53.

His early career included a run of box-office failures that earned him the nickname "Flop Master General". He broke the streak with Basu Paribar in 1952, before Sharey Chuattor (1953) established him as a major star and began his celebrated screen partnership with Suchitra Sen. In 1967, he became the first recipient of the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performances in Anthony Firingee and Chiriyakhana.

Last week, Mithun Chakraborty underwent a procedure on Thursday to remove a metal plate that had been implanted following an incident. The procedure was successful, and the actor is in a stable condition, they said. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited the actor and shared an update on his health on social media.

The actor is set to appear in a cameo in Rajinikanth's Jailer 2, which is set for release in 2027.

Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More