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There are good actors and bad actors, and then there are those who are beyond such mundane tags. Their achievements, their films cannot be measured in terms of awards or box-office success. These are the stars who are immortalised for the sheer joy they have brought to audiences. Mithun Chakraborty tops this list.
In a career spanning four decades, and with over 350 films to his credit, Mithunda, as he is fondly known to fans, made a name for himself as the Miracle Man, one who could defy logic, gravity, and all other laws of the physical world with his daredevilry. It wouldn’t be wrong to hail him as the Rajinikanth of Hindi cinema. Indeed, Rajinikanth himself may concede that his powers pale before Chakraborty's.
Mithun Chakraborty turns 66 today. We wish the affable star a long life and present some of his most unbelievable action scenes that are certain to leave you spellbound. Don’t blink or you may miss out on a miracle. Some of these scenes will make your jaw drop; most of them will have you ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing). Viewer discretion is advised as some scenes are too good to be true.
2 Kung Fu Chakraborty – Shera (1999)
If Bruce Lee had lived to see this kung fu master class, he would have enrolled at Mithunda's school. Shera was the name of the film, but Chakraborty brought the five traditional kung fu animal styles (tiger, snake, dragon, crane, and leopard) out in full force. Watch out for the scene in which he flies belly up to take out Gavin Packard. The Matrix revolution happened in Indian cinema first: Gulshan Grover will leave you stunned with his introduction in the final fight.
3 Ironfinger – Military Raj (1998)
They say a human hardly knows the power he possesses. Well, Mithunda showed that a finger can be more lethal than a bullet. The iron digit of Mithun Chakraborty could break a trigger, drill through walls, and, more importantly, bust a vein in the bad guy's neck. A word of caution, however: do not try this at home.
4 Left-leg drive – Muqaddar (1996)
A classic action sequence. The hero is going hard at the bad guys in his Jeep. But the henchmen are multiplying by the second. The hero has a machine-gun in the vehicle, but he can’t use it as his hands are on the steering wheel. So, is he going to get fried? No chance! Shiva (Chakraborty) plonks his left leg on the wheel and steers the Jeep just as well! With his hands free, Shiva opens fire!
Remarkably, Shiva enters the den of baddie Parshuram (Puneet Issar) unarmed. Four machine-gun-wielding henchmen fire hundreds of shots, yet not a bullet grazes him.
The climax has Parshuram dangling from a skyscraper clinging on to a pair of long-chain handcuffs, with Shiva's arm in one cuff. Shiva wields his sword but the chain is impregnable. Shiva does not want the police to capture his wife’s killer alive. So, he simply chop his own arm off. Revenge is so painful.
5 Kalash of mass destruction – Maa Kasam (1999)
Ajay Shastry (Chakraborty) has been killed by baddie Gulshan Grover who even arranges his funeral. Shastry is laid on the pyre. All that remains is for the villain to light it. That is when the miracle happens. A kalash (metal pot) pops up in the air, and its water flows into the dead man's mouth. Lo and behold! Shastryji is up in a flash, kicking a few goons about. He then proceeds to use the kalash that revived him as a boxing glove! The ensuing scenes will leave you stunned, as though Mithunda had bopped you on the skull with his kalash.
6 Man or woman, no discrimination – Hatyara (1998)
He has taken the most heinous criminals down, but in Hatyara Mithunda found himself in a predicament: he was pitted against the opposite sex! At first, he does not lay a finger on the three women who have perhaps come straight from an akhara in Haryana. But when the powerpuff girls don’t heed his advice, the gentleman is left with no option but to teach them a lesson. The three women should thank their lucky stars that this Hatyara did not land any fatal blows.
7 High on Coke – Meri Adalat (2001)
Hockey sticks, cars, chairs, windowpanes, and bottles have often been used as props in action sequences, but never before had a sequence seen both hero and the villains use soft-drink bottles as weapons. Perhaps this was a marketing requirement, but it makes one wonder what benefit Coca-Cola derived from seeing hundreds of its bottles being smashed around and fired like bullets. Or did the producer fall short of ammo?
8 No-brainer surgery – Diya Aur Toofan (1995)
You can take the man down, but you can't destroy his spirit. Or, should we say, his brain? This remarkable sci-fi sequence would have left even Christopher Nolan scratching his head. On his wedding night Amar (Chakraborty) is stabbed to death by the villains. Asha, his bride-to-be, goes insane. Dr Vijay Mehra (Suresh Oberoi) is a miracle worker. After Amar's death, Gyaneshwar (Kader Khan) advises Mehra to freeze Amar's brain and transplant it in a needy patient. As fate has it, Asha becomes that needy patient. She slips and falls from the temple stairs and is declared brain dead. Dr Mehra then transplants Amar's brain into Asha's body. The miraculous surgery sees Asha come back to life but she is not Asha anymore; she is Amar in Asha's body! Such was Mithunda's power that he could send even science for a toss!