Actor Shilpa Shirodkar was tagged as ‘jinxed’ at the beginning of her career after her film bankrolled by Boney Kapoor got shelved. While she was struggling to bag film offers, it was veteran star Mithun Chakraborty who came to her rescue and offered her a role in his film Bhrashtachar.
In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Shilpa revealed how Rikku Rakesh Nath, the manager of Madhuri Dixit, introduced her to Mithun and requested him to launch her, as people in the industry had started calling her ‘jinxed’. Shilpa recalled that Mithun agreed without any hesitation. Later, he introduced her to Ramesh Sippy, the director of Bhrashtachar, which became Shilpa’s debut film.
Shilpa Shirodkar said, “When Rikku ji asked Mithun Chakraborty to launch me, he, without thinking, said, ‘I will launch her.’ Later, Mithun announced a Bengali film in Calcutta in a theatre, and we had a fabulous mahurat kind of thing, and the news came that Shilpa has been signed with Mithun. Cut to he introduced me to Ramesh Sippy.” She added, “That’s how I got Bhrashtachar, and I started working in the film industry. So I have to say that I got this opportunity because of Dada (Mithun) and I am here because of him.”
Shilpa described her relationship with Mithun Chakraborty as ‘full of love, respect, and ever so grateful.’ She also recalled being nervous while shooting with Mithun, as she wanted to deliver her best performance in front of the man who gave her a break in the industry.
The actor said, “He was a senior to me and during shooting, I would reach the set in the morning and I would start preparing and giving my solo shots and Dada would come in the afternoon for the combination shots. But I used to be under so much pressure to not give retakes that I would give the shots while being scared. But that chemistry between us worked. He asked me why am I nervous, and I told him that I don’t want to give retakes in front of him, and he told me that I am crazy.”
