Mirzapur(Amazon Prime Video) Review

Mirzapur is the latest Indian drama from Amazon Prime Video & the makers of Inside Edge. Is it worth a watch? Read our review to find out

Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Divyendu Sharma, Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar
Created By: Karan Anshuman, Puneet Krishna
Directed By: Karan Anshuman, Gurmmeet Singh
Executive Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar
Duration: 46-50 mins
No. of episodes: 09
Network: Amazon Video
Genre: Crime, Drama

Synopsis

Mirzapur is set in the eponymous town in U.P. Kaleen Bhaiya a.k.a Akhandanand Trpiathi(Pankaj Tripathi) is the uncrowned King of Mirzapur. Every vehicle they own has this written on its number plate.

He is second generation don of Mirzapur. His son Munna(Divyendu) is restless to take over his father’s empire. But his father thinks otherwise. Kaleen Bhaiya has a young wife – Beena(Rasika Dugal) who is unhappy with her husband’s stamina between the sheets. Kaleen’s father – Satyanand Tripathi(Kulbulshan Kharbanda), the first of the Tripathi clan to become the baahubali is also alive & stays with them.

In the first episode, Munna encounters a baraat on his path. He decides to join in the revelry & fires a few shots in the air. Two of these shots end up killing the groom, who was seated on the horse. His father & uncle decide to file a case. The case is taken up by a righteous lawyer. Sadly, his two sons – Guddu(Ali Fazal) & Bablu(Vikrant Massey) haven’t inherited his righteousness. They don’t think highly of his honest ways & neither does his wife. But when Munna decides to pay a visit to intimidate their father, they don’t hesitate before beating Munna & his cronies. When news about this reaches Kaleen Bhaiyya, he asks his right hand man – Maqbool, to ask the boys to come over to meet him. Kaleen Bhaiyya asks them to work for him & gives them 5 mins to decide. The Pandit brothers who study in Munna’s college & were itching for a chance to work for Kaleen Bhaiyya take the offer up. This irks Munna. Unknown to Munna, his crush – Sweety(Shriya Pilgaonkar) likes Guddu. To add to the drama, Ratan Shukla – the baahubali of Jaunpur, wants Mirzapur for himself. Kaleen Bhaiyya’s political masters too keep pressurizing him for money as elections are just round the corner.

What will Munna end up doing when he finds out that his crush is interested in Guddu – the very guy whom, his dad employed despite him beating Munna up? Will Beena seek to fulfill he physical needs outside of her marriage? Will war break out between Munna & Guddu-Bablu? If yes, then who will win this war? These questions are answered gradually over the course of 10 episodes.

Strengths

We were initially sceptical about the casting for the show. After all one would find it difficult to imagine the urbane Ali Fazal as a guy from the hinterlands. Nor does Vikrant Massey been seen in a rural setting. But thankfully they do manage to do a decent job. Divyendu is decent as Munna. Kulbulshan Kharbanda doesn;t have much of a role. The supporting cast is good but not noteworthy. Karan Anshuman, the creator of the widely acclaimed Inside Edge is again in sublime form. The script, acting & drama do bear his stamp. The show reminds you of Gangs of Wasseypur. It is greatly inspired by Anurag Kashyap’s style of film making. The show manages to hold your attention. We binged on the first 4 episodes on Saturday & finished viewing the entire series by Sunday evening. The show is entertaining & is addictive. Kudos to the makers of the show.

But the show wouldn’t be half of what it was, had it not been for Pankaj Tripathi’s brilliant acting. The moment we laid eyes on Pankaj Tripathi, he was Kaleen Bhaiyya. We doubt if anybody could have done it better. He is the soul of the show. Frankly speaking had it not been for him, it would have been an average show.

Weakness

Unlike Inside Edge, there aren’t too many twists & turns in this one. The series lacks novelty. It doesn’t have anything that you haven’t seen before. It is not high on style or dialogues either. It is the web series version of Bollywood films set in UP.

Verdict

While the show ain’t no Narcos, it is very entertaining & addictive. If you are a fan of Anurag Kashyap’s movies & or loved Dabangg, Omkara etc you will love this one. Do give it a watch, especially for Pankaj Tripathi!

Our Rating: (4 / 5)