Mithun Chakraborty opened up about getting the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award late in his life. He was speaking at the red-carpet ceremony of 70th National Film Awards held at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan on Tuesday. He got the honour earlier this year. On Tuesday, the veteran actor also received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest film honour, from President Droupadi Murmu.

During an interaction with Doordarshan at the red-carpet ceremony, Mithun opened up about getting Padma Bhushan and said, “I thought everyone was getting the Padma Bhushan, so why not me? People younger than me got before me. I didn’t get it for so long. But now I have finally received it.”

Mithun is an alumnus of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) who has predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali cinema. He made his acting debut with Mrinal Sen's 1976 film Mrigayaa, for which he won the National Award for Best Actor. He bagged two more National Awards for 1992's Tahader Katha (best actor) and 1998's Swami Vivekananda (best supporting actor).

He is known for working in films like Surakshaa (1979), Disco Dancer (1982), Dance Dance (1987) and Pyaar Jhukta Nahi (1985), among others.