Sunday, December 09, 2018
Mirzapur Review
Mirzapur is UnsatisfyingMirzapur 2018 Season 1 Review
Mirzapur is an Amazon Primevideo exclusive web series directed by Karan Anshuman and Gurmeet Singh. Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey and Pankaj Tripathi play the lead roles.
Mirzapur is the story of two brothers Guddu Pandit (Ali Fazal) and Babloo Pandit (Vikrant Massey), and their rise in the world of crime in the Akhandanand Tripathi (Pankaj Tripathi) ruled Mirzapur.
Mirzapur is predictable, clichéd, dull and formulaic. It reminded me of the 90's films with violence, gore and rape scenes. Mirzapur is the same thing turned into a series with better production values. The intention is the same: cheap shocks and titillation. The rape scenes are here replaced with sex scenes; and 'Mirzapur' even has a mini 'Item Dance'! The entire series is filled with cheap shock values and raunchy scenes.
The narration is pretty much linear, except for a flashback. But it is uneven and doesn't flow forwards smoothly. The screenplay is disjointed. You can see what 'Mirzapur' wants to tell you, but because of the underdeveloped characters, half-baked situations and choppy screenplay, the scenes don't create the intended impact and leave you unconvinced and less invested.
Even some of the plot points in the series are outright vacuous. And the series becomes progressively worse with each episode. The first episode 'Jhandu' is actually the faadu episode of the series. The second and last two episodes are totally jhandu.
The first episode does quite a good job at setting up the rest of the series, even though certain segments are forced and detached. The ending of the first episode could actually be called the climax of the series, because that is the highest point of Mirzapur. From there the series takes a downward spiral and fails to reach to the same level.
The key scenarios in the second episode are underdeveloped and rushed through, which diffuses all the tension the first episode built. The undercooked sequences make the episode ineffective, and also jeopardize the entire series.
Mirzapur is a story that has been stretched into a series by forcefully adding unnecessary side-plots and scenes. Most of the violence, profanity and sex scenes are forced, and are added just for the heck of it. The only purpose of Beena Tripathi's (Rasika Dugal) character is to moan throughout the series. The character adds very little to the main plot, and only serves as a titillation. Her part in the series starts and ends as a disconnected side-story. Similarly, Zarina's (Anangsha Biswas) character is just there for the skin show. At least, the self-pleasuring Golu Gupta's (Shweta Tripathi) character helped in developing mistrust between Kaleen Bhaiyya and Guddu-Babloo.
Akhandanand Tripathi aka Kaleen Bhaiyya, which is the pillar character of the series, doesn't get the deserving screen time and lacks depth, and suffers from dissociative identity. The character is the 'Bahubali' of Mirzapur that deals in illegal weapons and drugs in the garb of carpet business. The character believes in maintaining the khauf or darr in the janta. He kills people, policemen who try to trouble him, to maintain the fear. He gets furious when a minister slaps his son in front of everyone, and he confronts the minster right there, even if it meant jeopardizing his position in Mirzapur. But when two nobodies beat up his son and give him a black eye, he straight up invites them to his home and offers them to join him! And gives them perks like imported pistols and a motorcycle to show off! Only because they beat up his son, even after knowing that Munna is Kaleen Bhaiyya's son! Talk about maintaining fear! "You beat up my kid, I give you job with amazing perks". That's a good message to send out to the people of Mirzapur!
Mirzapur also tests your patience, specially in the last two episodes, where it becomes a tedious experience. You know the brothers are going to get killed in the final episode, after all the emotional drama in the penultimate episode. Babloo meets his dad, makes him coffee and talks about leaving his "job". Guddu gets married. Sweety is pregnant. You can see from a mile that the series is trying to make you feel bad for them when they are eventually murdered in the final episode. But the huge effort in form of an entire episode trying to make you sympathize with them doesn't work. Because the series in the earlier episodes portrays them as criminals who enjoy committing crime, who are ready to go to any lengths to rise in the world of crime. So, obviously you don't feel for them, and the last episode falls flat. In fact, I wanted Munna Bhaiyya to quickly pump some bullets up their arse, and the series to come to an end. But no. Mirzapur painfully delays the ending. The only thing that is good about the last episode are some of the dialogues mouthed by Munna Bhaiyya. And the chain of events in the last episode will leave you chuckling.
The good thing about 'Mirzapur' are its actors who do a good job playing their respective roles. The introductory theme of Mirzapur is nicely done.
Overall, Mirzapur is a predictable, tiring and an unsatisfying watch.
Rating - 2/5
- Review by Aditya.
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