The teaser for ‘Mirzapur The Movie’ dropped online on Thursday. After three seasons on Amazon Prime Video, the franchise is making its first leap to cinema halls. The film releases on September 4.
The teaser does not reveal the plot. It does not need to. Anyone who has spent time in the Mirzapur universe knows exactly what they are getting into.
Pankaj Tripathi’s Kaleen Bhaiya is back, ruling Mirzapur with the same cold authority that made him one of Indian television’s most iconic villains. People are being killed. Bullets are being fired. Gangs are doing what gangs in Mirzapur do.
Ravi Kishan has joined the franchise with this film and appears in two scenes in the teaser. He plays a gangster. In one scene, he asks for namak (salt) to pour on a rival’s wounds. Very Mirzapur. Very on brand.
The teaser is heavy on atmosphere and light on answers. That is exactly how a Mirzapur teaser should be.
Munna Bhaiya is alive. Sort of.
Divyenndu’s Munna Bhaiya is back.
Munna died in the show. Fans mourned. Some are still mourning. But the film is set before the events of the series, which means Munna is very much alive here and apparently in full form. The teaser gives him whistle-worthy dialogues and the kind of screen presence that made him a fan favourite in the first place.
Writer Puneet Krishna had earlier confirmed in a conversation with Variety India that the plan was always to bring back characters who died in the show. Munna’s return is the biggest of those resurrections.
Bablu is back, but not Vikrant Massey
Bablu Pandit, who died in the first season of the show, also returns in the film. But Vikrant Massey, who originally played the character, will not be reprising the role.
Jitendra Kumar steps into those shoes. It is a big ask. Bablu was one of the most loved characters in the franchise. Jitendra Kumar is a strong actor with a track record of his own. How audiences receive this casting will be one of the talking points when the film releases.
A story about fathers and sons
The film is set before the show. That much is confirmed. And the emotional core, at least according to the teaser, is built around the complicated relationship between fathers and sons.
Kaleen Bhaiya and his son Munna have always had a relationship built on disappointment. The father wanted something specific from the son. The son could never quite be that. That tension runs through the teaser.
On the other side, Guddu’s father disapproves of the life of crime his son wants to pursue. That conflict also finds space in the film.
Mirzapur has always been about family as much as it has been about violence. The film appears to be leaning into that.
The cast and the faces returning
The film brings back Rajesh Tailang, Sheeba Chadha, and Divyenndu, all of whom fit naturally into a story set before the show’s timeline.
The full cast includes Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Ravi Kishan, Jitendra Kumar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and Rasika Dugal among others. The film is directed by Gurmmeet Singh.
Character posters for Kaleen Bhaiya, Guddu, and Munna are also out.