More to Mirzapur than kill and thrill
Nonika Singh
As ‘Mirzapur’, one of India’s most successful franchises, moves into its third season, the delectable signature tune, one of the high points of the series, is the same. So is the signature touch. It’s still the killing fields in which men continue to die left, right and centre. Blood not only spills in the creative introductions, but in every direction. One could argue that the blood-curdling scenes are not as gut-wrenching. Not because the director is any less squeamish this time, only familiarity inures you. Sex-rated scenes have been toned down somewhat in the series, which is of course strictly for adults.
The template is the same, only with two of our favourite characters out of the picture — Munna (an excellent Divyenndu in season two) and Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi) mostly lying comatose — the engagement factor does take a dip. After all, they are (were) the heartbeat of the series that captures the hinterland with detail, authenticity and all its goriness. Tripathi does leap back after a few episodes and even in scenes when you don’t see him at his ferocious best, he stands out. The void in his absence is filled by other characters. Madhuri and Sarat Shukla are now the key players. Both actors, Isha Talwar and Anjumm Sharma, are competent, one as the Chief Minister, the other fighting for his space in the illegal world. Bahubalis remain the equivalent of control and muscle power.
Who will be ‘crowned’ the new king? Indeed, one of the contenders, Guddu Pandit, is alive and shooting. Ali Fazal as Guddu may have lost his bulk, but not his freaking madness. In the scenes where he goes unhinged, the actor in him is in top form. If his gun hits the bull’s eye, his sardonic humour, too, doesn’t miss the mark. In one scene, soon after killing a man, he asks his child; ‘What is your name?’ On hearing that it is Munna, with deadpan expression, he says, ‘Badal do.’ And amid the bloody mess, you can barely suppress that chuckle. In yet another scene, he tells Madhuri, Munna’s widow, ‘I kill Munna everyday.’ It’s moments like these that elevate the series streaming on Amazon Prime Video into much more than just a standard fare of kill and thrill.
No doubt, the series is as slick as ever. Editing by Siddheshwar Ekambe is deft, cinematography by Sanjay Kapoor razor-sharp and pointed, and twists a mixed bag of expected and the unexpected. Which one of the two Tyagi twins among Bharat and Shatrughan (Vijay Varma once again proving his mettle) has survived is obvious early on. What he will do to his lady love who betrayed him in the last season is not so predictable… but the unpredictability of Varma’s character, we know, will give enough reason for Golu (Shweta Tripathi) to survive. Women in this world of goons and guns are no less merciless. Shweta walks the talk. Her body language speaks more than dialogues could. Rasika Dugal’s Beena may not get as much screen time, but the mean bone in her is sharper and as vicious.
Madhuri, whom the narrative follows for most of its 10-episode runtime, is steely in her resolve and demeanour. She forms new alliances to cement her position as the CM of the state, which she intends to make bhaymukt. And the only way to do that is, of course, to instill more fear. The modus operandi sounds simple; an enemy’s enemy is your friend… but in this game of deception, intrigue and control, there are no permanent friends, only foes. And it’s this thought that continues to make the series tension-fraught and still binge-worthy.
The problem with the franchise model is that these are often made with an eye on the next season. And this shadow of how to take it forward often mars the storytelling in the current one. And if you are looking for closure, it certainly does not offer any. But then, violence, the prime mover in ‘Mirzapur’s’ bloody world, is cyclical and even though Sarat wants to put brakes on the revenge ride, who can break the cycle of violence?
Should you take a break from the series? Well, if violence does not make you queasy, our answer is in the negative. Watch how negatives play off each other and create yet another round of a watchable playing field.
