Dear Pankaj Tripathi
So you’ve returned to your mansion in Mirzapur as Akhandanand alia Kaleen Bhaiya once again. 10 episodes of non-stop maa-bahen gaalis from you and your team turned my ears purple. And blood gushed like a Mumbai monsoon.
But I was happy to see you own the new season of Mirzapur. As a veteran gangster, you sized up your hot-headed son Munna well and knew that he wasn’t fit to sit on the throne of Mirzapur. But you were pretty dense about the sleaze that moved around in a wheelchair in the form of your dad, hai na? I mean, when you can’t perform to wife Beena’s satisfaction and you have to visit a sexologist, I wish right hand man Maqbool had at least kept you posted on the sexual antics of your household.
But it was like meeting old friends, when the cast that survived Season 1 returned to their familiar shenanigans. Like the old man still lusting after massages, upright lawyer Ramakant Pandit was still building a case against your son Munna though his own sons Bablu and Guddu had come over to your world of grime and crime.
Season 1 had ended with a bloody shootout at a wedding where Munna, as usual using guns instead of grey cells, blew the brains out of Bablu and blasted Guddu’s pregnant wife Sweety in the stomach.
Revenge therefore stalked Season 2.
While there was profanities and gun power instead of dialogues, with UP politics steaming in, the see-saw of power between the throne of Mirzapur and the Chief Minister’s chair widened the canvas. New characters like the don played by Lilliput, his twin sons played by Vijay Verma and a bit of wit from new character Robin and his many mothers kept the multi-tracks moving.
When you think about it, directors Gurmeet Singh & Mihir Desai and creators Puneet & Vineet Krishna had lust ruling the screenplay. Lust for revenge, lust for power or the pure lust that lies in the loins, overpowering what lies between the ears.
Actually that’s where it worked. Your cold menace was more chilling than the unhinged violence of Munna or Guddu. By the way, in Episode 5, Divyendu playing Munna also did an unabashed Narcotics brand of nude scene.
But for a theme splashed with testosterone, the women also had their day this season. Whether maid, bahu, sister or politician’s moll, all of them took their revenge on the men who played with them.
Carrying the season was your menacing presence, Pankaj. But the gangster culture was brought alive also by the effortlessness of Rasika Duggal, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Divyanshu, Ali Fazal, Shweta Tripathi, Vijay Verma, Liliput, Isha Talwar, Priyanshu Painyuli, Rajesh Tailang, Amit Sial and Anjum Sharma.
However, the season had its flaws. Apart from repetitive shots and the storyline being stretched, Guddu’s encounter sequence was shabby. Also, the scene where Guddu has his gun trained at a cop was like a lazy 70s film when there were clearly other cops behind the criminal who could’ve overpowered him.
But with brooding cinematography by Sanjay Kapoor, fans of dark cinema will be satisfied and also happy that the gate has been left wide open for Season 3. Pankaj, for helping the franchise live up to what it stands for, you and Mirzapur 2 get a 3.5* rating.
Much love
Bharathi S Pradhan
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