Watching Mithun da spend time with his ICL team, The Royal Bengal Tigers, was really a nostalgic moment.
I remember a time when Mithun da was the most potent force on the television(at least to me). I would be glued to the TV set if it were a Mithun da movie being aired on Doordarshan.
We did not have cable TV back then. Weekends, and especially, Mithun da movies were so eagerly awaited.

I give Mithun da the credit to make to make me cry, for the very first time, watching a movie. I very well remember that it was a movie called - Rukhsat.
Oh! The way Mithun da could emote!

Sample these.

Anger:
"Main hoon jurm se nafrat karne waala, gareebon ke liye chiraag, goondon ke liye jwaala"

Which villain wouldn’t fall to their knees after hearing this?

Love:
"Abbe ajeeb museebat hai!
Saali, aata hai to bolti hai sataata hai,
aata nahi to bolti hai pyaar nahi karta!!
Mausi, teri beti ko samjha kya?!"

Or which heroine wouldn’t fall for his charm?

Mithun da was never ordinary. He was a made of stuff that champions are made of. He had a personality like none other.
He could portray an array of characters, be it Sooraj Truck Driver or Gunmaster G9, with equal élan.
As an actor, followed and revered by many, he believed in sharing and disseminating knowledge through his films.

Take for example:

"Main hoon Do Numri, ek se jyaada, teen se kam".

Which child could ever forget where 2 stood in the number system after hearing this dialogue? I couldn’t.

Or,

"Masterji, tum ne mere thaili dekhi,
thaili ke andar ki baatli dekhi,
baatli ke andar ki sharaab dekhi,
lekin mere andar ki majboori nahi dekhi."

Here he describes the difference between abstract and tangible objects. Which grammar book could give you a better explanation of the same?

Bappi da and Mithun were a combination made for each other, like Fish and Chips or Noodles and Ketchup or Burger and Mayonnaise or Jai and Veeru.
You cannot think of one without thinking of the other.
It was so much fun to watch Mithun da dancing on the soulfully composed, Bappi da special, techno-electronic (or whatever crap you want to call it) beats.

God of Bollywood, or Prabhuji as his fans liked to call him, was never a selfish man.
He liked to give equal screen presence, soul stirring dialogues, and witty and well crafted names to his movie baddies.
A movie that immediately comes to mind is - Gunda. It is such a lyrical cult classic, that had the dialogues been sung, would have made the best musical in the world.
Every villain in this movie got a chance to introduce themselves in the most expressive of ways.

Before reading these dialogues, readers are adviced to prefix - "Mera naam hai <<The villian’s name here>> to enjoy it better.

Lambu Atta: "Deta hoon maut ka chaanta"
Bulla: "Sab karta hoon khullam khulla"
Chutiya( as in Chanakya’s chutiya): "Acche acchon ki khadi karta hoon khatiya"
Pote: "Jo apne baap ke bhi nahi hote"
Ibu Hatela: "Maa meri chudail ki beti, Baap shaitan ka chela, Kyon? Khaayega Kela?"

And girls? Yes! Mithun da movies had hordes of women - young, old, thin, fat. All sorts.
Research proves that over 40% of the girls in Mithun da starrers had to play the challenging role of a friend’s sis(If lucky Prabhuji’s sis) whose modesty would be outraged by a baddy.
This would give Prabhuji a good enough reason to kill them.

As an ardent Mithun da fan, it is very sad to see him in recent movies like Elaan and Heroes.
Prabhuji, it’s an earnest request -"Please make a comeback! Please give us a Gunda-2, a Jallad-2 or a Loha-2.
I don’t want the new generation to miss something as good as you."

Cheers,
Rosh