Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Jitendra Kumar, Ravi Kishan, Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rasika Dugal
Rating: ★★★★
One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing actors replaced in sequels and threequels. It rarely makes sense and is a needless gamble. There’s no guarantee audiences will accept a new face, especially when the original actor has already carved out a special place in their hearts. Mirzapur is a perfect example of why continuity actually matters. Thankfully, the movie doesn’t mess with that formula. Almost the entire original cast returns, with just one exception, and keeping that team together is easily one of its three biggest wins. The second win is having Puneet Krishna, who created and wrote the series, back to write this three-and-a-half-hour saga. Helping matters further is that the film is directed by Gurmeet Singh, who was also a core member of the original series team. The plot wastes no time on backstories. Bablu and Guddu (Jitendra Kumar and Ali Fazal, respectively), the left and the right hand of Kaleen Bhaiya ( Pankaj Tripathi ), are still at loggerheads with his son, Munna (Divyenndu). Enter Babban Yadav ( Ravi Kishan ), who is on the run after stealing drugs from his employer and wants to sell it to Kaleen bhaiya. Also eyeing the throne of Mirzapur, he baits Kaleen into stepping outside city limits so he can execute his plan. What happens next forms the rest of the film. On the music front, there are mainly two songs. The other features Sonal Chauhan, a new addition to the cast. It isn’t as impressive, but at least it is integrated into the plot. Thank God for that.
It was among the first OTT shows many of us got hooked on back in 2018, and over time, its characters became just as essential to its identity as the bloodshed and abuses. One is Vaaroon from the original show, which continues to pop up on Instagram reels even today.
