‘Gurmmeet Singh was extremely sure in his head that the canvas should be bigger. The movie should look big on screen. It should look like the Mirzapur world but at the same time, much bigger.’
IMAGE: The leading men of Mirzapur. Photograph: Kind courtesy Ali Fazal/Instagram
Key Points
- ‘We had a feeling that we have made a good film but the kind of love it has gotten and continues to receive is explosive!’
- ‘Mirzapur has come from my heart. To go back to those characters after a gap was extraordinarily exciting.’
- ‘It’s Mr Akhtar and Mr Sidhwani’s large-heartedness that they say they could see the spark in me. The support from them has been unwavering.’
Puneet Krishna, who wrote the Mirzapur series as well as the film, is thriller with the response the movie is getting.
“It’s the love for the characters, which I had created in Season 1. Maybe that nostalgia factor was there, and maybe we did something right with pen and paper, and then shooting it on screen the way Gurubhai (Director Gurmmeet Singh) did,” Puneet tells Subhash K Jha.
How do you explain the success of Mirzapur: The Movie?
I don’t think I can explain this because it is beyond our wildest dreams. We had a feeling that we have made a good film but the kind of love it has gotten and continues to receive is explosive!
I feel blessed and lucky that this is happening.
It’s the love for the characters, which I had created in Season 1. Maybe that nostalgia factor was there, and maybe we did something right with pen and paper, and then shooting it on screen the way Gurubhai (Director Gurmmeet Singh) did. He had directed the three seasons too.
When you were tasked with writing the movie, what were your initial thoughts?
My initial thought was it’s going to be too much pressure. At the same time, (there was) a lot of joy and excitement because Mirzapur has come from my heart. To go back to those characters after a gap was extraordinarily exciting.
In fact, (Producer) Ritesh Sidhwani had spoken to us around 2023 and we were not too sure which story to tell. So we had not gone ahead with anything. Then, in 2024, this idea came to me that instead of going before or after the series, how about we go sideways and create a parallel storyline?
This film existed when the season one was happening, it’s just that you’re getting to watch it now.
‘We needed to give twists and turns because the audience is extraordinarily smart’
IMAGE: Puneet Krishna charts Season 2. Gurmmeet Singh writes: ‘To writing room brawls & breakdowns! To unlimited what ifs!’ Photograph: Kind courtesy Gurmmeet Singh/Instagram
How did you ensure that the film would take the audience on a new experience from the series?
For this, there were two things that we wanted to be sure of.
One, that on the paper, we will give them surprises through new characters or new dynamics between the existing characters. We needed to give twists and turns because the audience is extraordinarily smart. We can’t take them for granted.
Secondly, Gurubhai kept telling me that Puneet, whatever you wrote in the series, if you had to say one thing in four scenes, you have to now say it in one scene because it’s a three hour film.
You can’t have a seven-eight hour long series kind of thought process. He kept hammering that in, so I rewired myself to think that I don’t have to write four scenes to say something. Possibly one, one-and-a-half scene should be enough.
Also, he was extremely sure in his head that the canvas should be bigger. The movie should look big on screen. It should look like the Mirzapur world but at the same time, much bigger. Visually, thought-wise, metaphorically.
While we were hoping the audience will understand what we are going for, they will receive it with love and give the love right back to us. That’s happening by, I don’t know, God’s grace, maybe.
‘A lot of love has been added into making these new characters’
IMAGE: Ravi Kishen, Divyendu and Ali Fazal on the sets of Mirzapur. Photograph: Kind courtesy Ali Fazal/Instagram
Tell us about the additional characters. For example, Babban, played by Ravi Kishan. Why did you feel the need to bring them in?
We wanted to go with the combination of the familiarity of the old characters and also to bring in some new characters, as they may have something exciting about them, and the audience will love them the way they loved Guddu, Munna, Bablu and Kaleen Bhaiya…
That’s how we created these characters, Babban Babua Yadav, Mumtaz Bibi, Birju Lohar, Chandu Pancher, Chedilal…
I thought that if we bring them from a different universe to the universe of Mirzapur, that would be fun to watch. So a lot of love has been added into making these characters. Sometimes, they’re lovable, sometimes not, but they’re interesting for sure.
At times, especially when the characters were heading towards the climax, I felt your writing got a little self-indulgent. Was it deliberate to give the audience breathing space?
Yes. Not so much to give the audience breathing space, but something to help them have fun with.
I’ve learned this along the way that sometimes you can have a scene in a film or in a series, where people are just having fun. It may not lead to one specific story point from A to B.
So that’s what we decided to experiment with, that we can just have a few scenes when the audience is just having fun with them, and not following the story in that particular moment. When the scene ends, you have a feeling of joy and excitement. Then, you move into the storytelling later.
‘Bina is a broken soul, but at the same time, a very dangerous woman’
IMAGE: Rasika Duggal and Pankaj Tripathi on the sets of Mirzapur. Photograph: Kind courtesy Rasika Dugal/Instagram
Everyone has his favourite character in Mirzapur. Who is yours?
Compounder — the loyalty he has is unparalleled — and Bina, who is deliciously wicked. There is a reason behind it. She’s a broken soul, but at the same time, a very dangerous woman who knows how to survive in this male-dominated world of Mirzapur.
I love Chandu Pancher (played by Satendra Soni) too. He’s not in the series but is in the film. He is short in stature physically, but a deep person, loves his grandmother and can be a dangerous person if provoked. Otherwise, he is a kind man, who has the same idea of loyalty as his cousin, Compounder Bhaiya.
When did you first meet Farhan Akhtar?
I met Mr Akhtar and Mr Sidhwani when I was making my first film as a writer called Bangistan with Excel.
It’s their large-heartedness that they say they could see the spark in me. The support from them has been unwavering.
When I took season one to them, they really pushed it to be screened on Prime Video. During season two, we had a lot of liberty to make the show.
Even in the film, they had a lot of courage because it’s not a traditional film with some boxes to be ticked. It was a huge gamble when it came to money.
‘Directing something that I write will give me a lot of happiness’
IMAGE: Satendra Soni in Mirzapur. Photograph: Kind courtesy Excel Entertainment/Instagram
Do you think the Hindi film industry is still unfair to writers?
I’ve been lucky to have met some wonderful people in the industry, who were much bigger to me in stature. So I can’t exactly say that it’s unfair. Writers getting more recognition would be helpful.
Who are the writers that inspire you?
A lot of them. Farhan is a brilliant writer. Imtiaz Alibhai is a brilliant writer. Niren Bhatt is a brilliant writer. Sudeep Sharma has created some of the best shows possibly of the country. I love Juhi Chaturvedi’s writing.
Vishal Bhardwaj, Abhishek Chaubey are wonderful writers.
From outside India, I like how Bong Joon-Ho writes his films.
I like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. The way I want to protect my characters is something that comes from these people.
Then the gangsta people, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. These people made writing cool, they made writers cool.
Then, there’s Abhijat Joshi, Vidhu Vinod Chopra… the list is long.
When will you direct a film?
I’m planning to, I want to. I directed the Netflix show, Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper, and it received a lot of love.
Directing something that I write will give me a lot of happiness. At the same time, in the world of Mirzapur, I’m extremely happy that Gurubhai gets to do it and I just sit in a chair beside him.
In Mirzapur’s world, there can be no director other than Gurmmeet Singh. Other than that, any other film that I write, I would like to direct.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
