Amazon MGM Studios and Excel Entertainment’s Mirzapur The Movie (A) is about the Mirzapur world made popular by the Mirzapur web series. Akhanda Tripathi alias Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi) rules Mirzapur and, therefore, the entire Purvanchal region as the underworld don. His son, Munna (Divyendu Sharma), is not half as sharp as him and hence Kaleen Bhaiya relies more on the Pandit brothers, Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Bablu (Jitendra Kumar), who work as his chief assistants. Babban Yadav alias Babua (Ravi Kishan) approaches Kaleen Bhaiya to sell him a huge consignment of drugs, but his motive is to dislodge Kaleen Bhaiya and rule over Purvanchal. What happens thereafter in the game of power and the world of crime?
Puneet Krishna has written a story which may not be very novel but it is definitely very engaging because the characters in the story are all supremely interesting. Since this is a stand-alone story, it is easy for even those who don’t know the Mirzapur web series world, to understand. Puneet Krishna’s screenplay is fast-paced and entertaining. The first half moves like a bullet and sucks the viewers into the world. At a few places in the second half, the drama is not as engaging, but there’s so much of action and so much happening that the dip in engagement doesn’t really matter. Overall, it keeps the audience involved, engaged and thoroughly entertained. Puneet Krishna’s dialogues are extraordinary. The foul language may not go down well with the family audience, but the masses, youngsters and fans of the Mirzapur web series will go bonkers over the swear words-heavy dialogues.
Pankaj Tripathi delivers an extraordinary performance as Kaleen Bhaiya. Not once does he go overboard or underperform. Ali Fazal is very good as Guddu Pandit. His physique is terrific. Divyendu Shama is mind-blowing as Munna. His acting — facial expressions, body language, dialogue delivery — deserves full marks. He makes the character so endearing that one can’t help but fall in love with Munna. Jitendra Kumar is wonderful as Bablu Pandit. There’s a lot of sincerity in his performance. Ravi Kishan shines as Babban Yadav. He stays true to his character from the start till the end. Abhishek Banerjee lends decent support as Compounder. Rasika Duggal kills it as Beena. Her uninhibited performance is creditable. Mohit Malik makes his mark as Birju Lohar. Pramod Pathak leaves a fine impression as J.P. Yadav. Sheeba Chaddha is first-rate as Vasudha Pandit. Rajesh Tailang stands out in a brief role as the father of Guddu and Bablu. Shriya Pilgaonkar is alright as Sweety. Shweta Tripathi makes her presence felt in a tiny role as Golu. Sonal S. Chauhan dances and acts well as Mumtaz. Shubhrajyoti Barat is natural as Rati Shankar Shukla. Shaji Choudhary leaves a mark as Maqbool. Satendra Soni is terrific as Chandu Puncture. Sushant Singh is impressive as Bhairav Singh Karnawat. Kulbhushan Kharbanda has his moments as Bauji. Harshita Shekhar Gaur (as Dimpy), Manuj Sharma (as Chhedi Lal), Nitin Mahesh Joshi (as househelp Raju), Prashansaa Sharma (as Radhiya), Paritosh Sand (as the chief minister), Anangsha Biswas (as Zarina), Meghna Malik (as Shakuntala Shukla), Anjum Sharma (as Sharad Shukla) and Akash Mahamana (as the cake shop owner) lend excellent support.
Gurmmeet Singh’s direction deserves distinction marks. He has created a fantastic Mirzapur world and has narrated the drama in a very entertaining manner. Music (Anand Bhaskar, Ray, Junaid Kumar, Dhanda Nyoliwala and John Stewart Eduri) is well-tuned. A couple of songs are very good. Lyrics (Ginny Diwan, Kumaar, Tejpal Singh Rawat, Dhanda Nyoliwala and Parry G.) are in synch with the mood of the film. Song picturisations (Vijay A. Ganguly for Vindhyavasini ki jai ho and Ghoom ghoom) and Khyati Panchmatia (for Vaaroon forever) are eye-filling. John Stewart Eduri’s background music is terrific. Sanjay Kapoor does a swell job of the cinematography. Amin Khatib’s action and stunt scenes are extremely exciting and thrilling. Having said that, it must be added that the excessive violence will not go down well with the family audience, much like the swear words in the dialogues. Production designing (by Sonam Singh and Abhijit Gaonkar) and art direction (by Kiran Lokhande) are of a very good standard. Manan Ashwin Mehta’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Mirzapur The Movie is a hit.
Released on 4-9-’26 at Inox (daily 12 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: very good. Opening: bumper. …….Also released all over. Opening was terrific everywhere — partly because of the Janmashtami festival and partly due to the popularity of the Mirzapur web series.
