Mirzapur The Movie review: Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Pankaj Tripathi return with guns, gaalis, max aura in entertaining saga

Mirzapur The Movie review: Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Pankaj Tripathi return with guns, gaalis, max aura in entertaining saga

Mirzapur The Movie review: The investment comes with a big-screen payoff in this worthy big-screen companion to the show.

Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Jitendra Kumar, Ravi Kishan, Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rasika Dugal

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.

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. 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.

Having Puneet Krishna return for the big-screen version ensures that the film truly understands its characters and the peculiar flavour of the Mirzapur universe. That familiarity goes a long way in helping it recreate the gangster saga audiences liked, rather than feeling like an extended spin-off wearing the show’s name.

The first half is to the point. If you have watched the show even once, you won’t need a refresher. You immediately feel at home as the actors slip back into roles they started playing years ago. Every character gets their fair share of screen time, and the filmmakers clearly know exactly what will farm maximum aura. The same momentum carries into the second half, culminating in a powerful climax.

Most of the seeti-maar dialogues from the show, including “Hamara beta hai, yeh important hai” and “Jalwa hai hamara”, return and bring the house down. But even that isn’t the third win of Mirzapur.

It’s the fact that the makers have ensured there is enough freshness by adding subplots. The action is larger-than-life and, thankfully, has none of the AI slop that many filmmakers might resort to, to cut costs. Shot largely at real-life locations, the film benefits from the scale and authenticity this brings.

On the music front, there are mainly two songs. One is Vaaroon from the original show, which continues to pop up on Instagram reels even today. 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.

Now, the performances. Divyenndu, as the hot-headed Munna, is clearly the crowd favourite, going by the cheers he received at my 9 AM show. It’s his most popular character to date, and he delivers big time. Next is Ali Fazal as the brawn-over-brains Guddu, and he is on point, too. Pankaj Tripathi as Kaleen Bhaiya is, as always, a delight.

Rasika Dugal as Beena is the lone female character who actually helps drive the plot forward, and she does it well. Shriya Pilgaonkar and Shweta Tripathi don’t have much to do, but their presence in the Mirzapur world still feels nice. Kulbhushan Kharbanda, as the patriarch of the Tripathi family, also packs a punch. Ravi Kishan as Babban is formidable, and adds a lot of weight to the film. Jitendra fits right in.

Overall, Mirzapur: The Movie knows its audience, and more importantly, it knows what that audience wants. There are enough callbacks to make fans grin and enough new twists to prevent the whole thing from feeling like a recycled season. And of course, enough violence to ensure nobody mistakes this for a family drama. Yes, three and a half hours is a commitment, but so is watching three seasons of people fighting over a throne nobody has ever managed to sit on peacefully. At least this time, the investment comes with a big-screen payoff. Also, Munna bhaiya truly amar hain.

Rishabh Suri writes for the daily Entertainment & Lifestyle supplement HT City. From Bollywood to Hollywood, from Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam films, to OTT and television- he covers it all.