Mithun Chakraborty turns 72 today. In the 1980s, Mithun was a big star, thanks to hits like Disco Dancer and Pyaar Jhukta Nahin. Did you know his real name is Gouranga Chakraborty?

Before joining the Hindi film industry, Mithun Chakraborty, fondly called as Mithunda, attended and graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune

Known majorly for his action movies and his patent dance moves, in real life, Mithun Chakraborty has taken training in Martial Arts to the grade of black belt

Till date, Mithun has won four National Awards, three of them as Best Actor -- Mrigayaa (1976), Agneepath (1990) and the Bengali film Tahader Katha (1992)

Mithun Chakraborty also won the National Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1998 film 'Swami Vivekananda'

Mithun Da with Ramesh Sippy and Rekha

During his struggling days, Mithun Chakraborty was an assistant to dancer Helen under the name Rana Rej

Mithun Chakraborty had revealed that during his days when he danced on stage, he was not even sure whether he would manage to get his meal for the day

Much before becoming a lead star, Mithun Chakraborty had a brief role in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Do Anjaane' which released in 1976

In the 80s, Mithun had a much-publicised extra-marital affair with late actress Sridevi, and a tabloid even claimed that they had married secretly. However, they are still termed to be 'rumours'.

In picture: Mithun Chakraborty with Amrita Singh - A still from 'Agnee'

The actor was the co-owner of Royal Bengal Tigers, a cricket team that was part of the now-defunct Indian Cricket League

Mithun is also the co-owner of Bengal Football Academy, which started with the aim of promoting the football talents of the country

A comic book named 'Jimmy Zhingchak' takes its inspiration from Mithun Chakraborty

A successful businessman that he is, Mithun Chakraborty runs hotels in Ooty in Tamil Nadu, Darjeeling, Siliguri, and Kolkata

Mithun has appeared in around 300 films to date. Apart from Hindi, he has done movies in Bengali, Oriya and Bhojpuri

Mithun Chakraborty used to have over 30-35 dogs in his Mumbai bungalow and twice the number at his Ooty home. He had also joined the Kennel Club of India in order to help them in their endeavours

Back in 2009, Mithun gifted his son Mahaakshay a luxury car. This was his reward for finally losing weight after working out and dieting for over a year. In picture: With Ranjeeta in 'Bhayanak'

Mithunda still believes that his son Mahaakshay is a better dancer than him

We wish Mithun Da a very happy birthday!