Mithun Chakraborty: 'Mahaguru' gets top cultural post in Bengal govt, CM announces

Tollywood's 'Mahaguru' Mithun Chakraborty has landed a new, important role. He is now the cultural advisor to the West Bengal government. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari made the announcement during the foundation stone ceremony for the 'Uttam Kumar Film Centre' in New Town.

Tollywood's very own 'Mahaguru', Mithun Chakraborty, has been given a big new responsibility. The veteran actor will now be closely involved with the state government's cultural activities as its new cultural advisor. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari himself made the announcement while speaking at the foundation stone ceremony for the 'Uttam Kumar Film Centre' in New Town, held to mark the birth centenary of the legendary actor Uttam Kumar.

This isn't his only role. Mithun Chakraborty was earlier made a co-patron of a special high-level advisory committee formed for Uttam Kumar's birth centenary celebrations.

The West Bengal government has planned a series of programmes throughout the year to celebrate the centenary of the iconic actor. A special advisory committee has been set up to plan and manage these events. The committee's chief patron is CM Suvendu Adhikari, who also holds the Information and Culture portfolio. He is joined by Mithun Chakraborty and Minister of State for Information and Culture, Purnima Chakraborty, as co-patrons.

Director Sandip Ray has been named the committee's president, with actor Prosenjit Chatterjee as the working president. Dr. Soumitra Mohan, the Secretary of the Information and Culture Department, will serve as the member secretary. Besides Mithun, the committee is packed with other well-known faces from Tollywood. This includes Dev, Jeet Madnani, Abir Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupta, Rituparna Sengupta, Rudranil Ghosh, Rupa Ganguly, Gourav Chatterjee, Srijit Mukherji, and Kaushik Ganguly.

The committee's job isn't just limited to organising the centenary events. It will also plan year-long programmes focusing on Uttam Kumar's life and his contribution to cinema, oversee their execution, and advise the state government on various matters related to culture, films, literature, and archives.

Naturally, there's a lot of buzz around Mithun Chakraborty's new role. Everyone is keen to see how his long and vast experience in the film industry will benefit the state's cultural and cinematic initiatives. Recently, at an event for the centenary, Mithun had also pushed for a 30 percent subsidy for films shot in Bengal. Reports suggest that CM Suvendu Adhikari has agreed to the proposal. He said, "Tell us what kind of support you need. Let us know where infrastructure needs to be built, if a budget needs to be allocated, if any approval is required, or if laws need to be changed. If necessary, we will amend the law in the Assembly. The government will do whatever is needed.”