Mirzapur (TV series)

Mirzapur is an Indian action crime thriller streaming television series on Amazon Prime Video, created by Karan Anshuman, who wrote the script along with Puneet Krishna and Vineet Krishna. Anshuman directed the first season of the series, along with Gurmmeet Singh and Mihit Desai, who also directed the second season of the series. The series is produced by Rithesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar of Excel Entertainment. The series is Amazon Prime Video's third Indian original after "Inside Edge" and "Breathe".
The story follows the rule of Akhananad Tripathi (Pankaj Tripathi), also known as Kaleen Bhaiya, the mafia don and proverbial ruler of Mirzapur in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. The series chronicles the events which follows. In the first season, it features Pankaj Tripathi, Shweta Tripathi, Divyendu Sharma, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rasika Dugal, Harshita Gaur and Kulbhushan Kharbanda, whereas the second season retains the principal cast from the first season, excluding Massey and Pilgaonkar, with new cast consisting of Vijay Varma, Isha Talwar, Lilliput, Anjum Sharma, Priyanshu Painyuli, Anangsha Biswas and Neha Sargam.
The series was filmed mostly across Uttar Pradesh, primarily shot in Mirzapur, and many locations which include Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Lucknow, Raebareli, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi. Sanjay Kapoor served as the cinematographer, with Manan Mehta and Anshul Gupta edited the series. John Stewart Eduri composed the background score.
The first season of "Mirzapur" was released on 16 November 2018. The series opened to eventually positive response from audiences, while critics gave mixed reviews to the series. The performances of the cast members, particularly Pankaj Tripathi's, received rave response. It eventually became the most popular web series of India, followed by Sacred Games. The second season of "Mirzapur" was released on 23 October 2020. The series was renewed for a third season on 12 November 2020 by Amazon Prime Video.
Production.
Development.
In August 2016, Amazon Studios collaborated with Excel Entertainment to produce their first two Indian original series for the platform, with one of them titled "Inside Edge" (2017), which is based on sports, and a crime-thriller series, in order to extend it service in the country, ahead of the launch of Amazon Prime Video in India on December 2016. In March 2017, the makers announced about the crime drama series which is set in Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. Rithesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, said that the series is loosely based on the Netflix series "Narcos".
Karan Anshuman created the series, who also wrote the script with Puneet Krishna and Vineet Krishna, and directed the series along with Gurmmeet Singh and Mihir Desai. In an interview with Devarsi Ghosh of "Scroll.in", Anshuman stated that he has been a big fan of the Hinterland western genre, and also watched films such as "Omkara" (2006) and "Gangs of Wasseypur" series, however, due to the restrictions in the medium, the genre cannot be possible in cinema, as it demands extreme violence and brutality. He added "We had this idea for a gangster drama, and I felt that the best way to do it in India was to set it in the hinterlands, in the back of beyond. We [co-writers Puneet Krishna and Vineet Krishna] had access to a lot of stories based on our research, but we wanted to create a world that was hyper-real and amped up. We created a world of violence where even the nicest person would own a gun and could pull the trigger if the need arose. But the characters and their relationships are emotional. All the characters are heroes in their own arc, so everyone will find someone to relate to."
In March 2020, the makers announced for a third instalment in the series, with its pre-production work being underway. Amazon Prime Video, officially announced for a third season on 12 November 2020.
Casting.
The series revolves around the principal character Pankaj Tripathi who plays the role of Akhandanad Tripathi (Kaleen Bhayya), a mafia boss and millionaire carpet exporter. In a 30-second teaser released on October 2018, it features clip largely comprises shots from a factory in Mirzapur where guns are manufactured in the garb of carpets, and Kaleen Bhayya is behind this illegal business. Divyendu Sharma, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey appears in other principal roles alongside with Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rasika Dugal, Harshita Gaur and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Anshuman stated that the characters in the series are real, but the world they are in is larger than life, similar to the worlds of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. He eventually conceived that the characters Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Bablu (Vikrant Massey), were inspired two real boys who rode a bike and went around terrorising the town. He further added Guddu's character was inspired from a bodybuilder's look.
In an interview published on an online portal on February 2020, Vikrant Massey revealed that the makers of the series had kept him in dark about his character's demise, till the day of the shoot. Reportedly, Vikrant Massey's character Vinay Pandit (Bablu) was brutally murdered in the climax of season 1. He exclaimed that the makers had kept his death under the wraps to reportedly make the audiences more curious about his character. However his character did not have a cameo appearance in the second season. Although Shriya's character Swaragini Gupta Pandit (Sweety), had a cameo appearance in the second season.
The second season has the recurring cast from the first one with Sharad Shukla, Vijay Varma, Isha Talwar, Lilliput, Anjum Sharma, Priyanshu Painyuli, Anangsha Biswas and Neha Sargam, joined the new addition to the cast.
Filming.
Season 1.
Filming of first season began on 27 September 2017, with the badminton sequence was the first scene to be shot. Ali Fazal and Shweta Tripathi joined the sets in Varanasi on 30 September. The story is set in Mirzapur and Bhadohi in Uttar Pradesh, but however the story is fictionalised and was not based on real Mirzapur. The primary locations for the shooting of the series included Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Lucknow, Raebareli, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi. The show makers have taken areal shots of the Ganga river in Uttar Pradesh, and Another important location for the series was the Badohi district. Shooting of the series got wrapped up on June 2018.
Season 2.
Post the announcement of the second season in February 2019, the makers kickstarted shoot on May 2019. In a report from BoxOfficeIndia, it was revealed that shooting of the series was done majorly in Uttar Pradesh. Reportedly, the shoot of the film started from Lucknow and it was mostly shot in the extensions of the city. The series was also shot in Benaras and some other parts of the state. The makers wrapped the shooting of the series on October 2019.
Release.
A 30-second teaser of "Mirzapur", which features the voiceover of Pankaj Tripathi was released on 2 October 2018. Another teaser trailer featuring Ali Fazal's character was unveiled on 11 October 2018. The first poster of "Mirzapur" was released on 16 October 2018, and the following day, the makers released the official trailer of the series on 17 October. "Mirzapur" was screened the Mumbai Film Festival, with the first two episodes were premiered on 27 October 2018 at PVR Versova in Mumbai, which was the one and only screening of the Prime Original during the festival run. The first season of the series aired on Amazon Prime Video on 16 October 2018, through Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages.
"Mirzapur" was screened at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour held in Los Angeles on February 2019, where the makers officially announced the second season of the series, along with seven original contents from India. On 16 November 2019, coinciding the anniversary of the first season, the makers shared the sneak peek of the second season, which eventually announced for a release on March 2020. But the release was further delayed, as post-production works came to a halt due to COVID-19 pandemic. On 24 August 2020, the makers announced for a scheduled release on 23 October 2020. The trailer was released on 7 October 2020.
Ahead of the release, fans erected huge cut-outs across eight cities in Uttar Pradesh. "Mirzapur: Season 2"'s first two episodes was premiered through Amazon Prime Video on 22 October 2020, a day ahead of its scheduled premiere, and rest of the episodes were released on 23 October. Although, the second season eventually released with the original Hindi language, the makers released the dubbed Tamil and Telugu version on 11 December 2020.
Reception.
Critical response.
Season 1.
"Mirzapur: Season 1" eventually received positive response from audiences, whereas critics gave mixed reviews to the series. Rohan Naahar of the "Hindustan Times", gave two out of five and stated "Mirzapur doesn’t aim high, and yet it fails to hit its target. A more mature approach to the violence and a more focused plot would greatly benefit the second season, were there to be one." Ektaa Malik of "The Indian Express" claimed that "The nine-part series, with almost hour-long episodes, is a tedious watch, and even its top-notch cast can’t save this mammoth show from sinking." Saraswati Datar from "The News Minute" reviewed "A brilliant cast of actors led by Pankaj Tripathi is let down by an inconsistent script and indulgent direction." Saibal Chatterjee of "NDTV" gave two out of five two the series, and stated "Barring a couple of sequences in the first two episodes, "Mirzapur" never finds a way out of the drably pedestrian." Stutee Ghosh from "The Quint" gave two-and-a-half out of five stars and stated "Mirzapur runs out of steam early on and never truly recovers, but it does have one saving grace."
In a positive note Nandini Ramanth of "Scroll.in" stated "The violence in Mirzapur is nearly always gratuitous in its operatics, but Pankaj Tripathi’s nuanced and hugely enjoyable performance is among the grace notes." Rahul Desai of "Film Companion" rated it three-out-of-five stars and stated "Featuring some of Hindi cinema’s most talented actors, it’s no surprise that the performances paper over awkward cracks in the narrative balance." Umesh Punwani of "Koimoi" gave four out of five stars saying "What makes it different is the portion of entertainment and thrills attached with every episode."
Season 2.
Saibal Chatterjee of "NDTV", gave two-and-a-half out of five stars and stated ""One key difference between the two seasons is in the pacing of the narrative. Season 2, as expected, fires on all cylinders, but in an infinitely more controlled manner. The language continues to be gratingly coarse. However, the scenes of violence, even when they are fervidly excessive, aren't delivered merely to boost the shock quotient as was often the case in S1." Udita Jhunjhunwala from "Firstpost" reviewed the series, giving three out of five stars and stated "Season 2 ends with what we have come to expect when a game of thrones is afoot – some will die, some will live, and the show will go on."
Ronak Kotecha of "The Times of India" rated the series three-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote "'Mirzapur’ 2’ has that ‘killer’ combination of power and politics that largely works, but is not bulletproof to flaws." Jyothi Sharama Bawa of "Hindustan Times" reviewed "For a show that revels in throwing references at you, here is one that Mirzapur 2 offers us right in the beginning – a scorpion with a sting in its tale." Rohit Vats of "News18" gave two-and-a-half to the series stating "In Mirzapur 2, Ali Fazal and Pankaj Tripathi are unflinchingly staring at each other amid a barrage of bullets with a commitment to make all this look bizarrely satisfying."
Nandini Ramanath of "Scroll.in" reviewed ""Mirzapur 2" might have not felt the need to invent new characters to ramp up the intrigue. These fresh entrants deliver enough scheming and maneuvering to last 10 episodes, but the show’s writers, Puneet Krishna and Vineet Krishna, aren’t done yet. Like a Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that stretches on unto eternity, a time-bound story revolving around revenge for fresh wounds is threatening to evolve into a saga that will persist for a few more seasons." Mughda Kapoor of "Daily News and Analysis", rated three-and-a-half out of five to the show stating "Living up to the expectations of delivering an action-packed, fierce, and intense season, ‘Mirzapur 2’ surely makes for a great watch."
In contrast, Ektaa Malik from "The Indian Express" gave two out of five stars and stated "Mirzapur season two doesn’t yet fall into the category of ‘its soo bad that its good,’ nor does it fit into the ‘guilty pleasure’ slot." Saraswati Datar of "The News Minute" stated "The episodes, which start off at a brisk pace, slow down mid-way through the season. Yet this enviable ensemble of actors, who are undoubtedly some of the best in the business today, strive hard to stay invested and keep the proceedings going."