abdul saboor review english

MIRZAPUR
Review:

MIRZAPUR a worth watching web series by Amazon Prime, is directed by Karan Anshuman & Gurmeet Singh. The theme of Mirzapur is based on illegal businesses of Arms and Drugs trading. The story and the plot is full of violence and conflicts between two ex-friends and their gangs.

Mirzapur tells a story of Hindi heartland violence that intersects between the world of politics, of law enforcement, and of middle class India. 

This is a story that would have for a touching and timely division, but sadly, Mirzapur has neither the intelligence nor the empathy to make any sort of meaningful statement about this very real, and very distressing reality. Even before the opening credits have rolled in episode one, a gang of thugs in their Scorpio (Jeep), drive over to a wedding by road side. A man’s gun backfires and decimates his dominant hand. And a groom perched atop his Ghodi (horse) is mistakenly shot in the eye. 

All this happens within the first 10 minutes. The rest of the nine episodes seem to suggest, with frightening, negativism, that being bad is good. Everyone is corruptible when enough money is thrown before their faces, and since there’s no point in standing up for what is right, one might as well make some money doing what is wrong.

The collective cast of characters in Mirzapur entirely comprises almost psychopaths. There’s Kaleen Bhaiya, a local crime lord and drug smuggler played by the great Pankaj Tripathi, and his short tempered Son, Munna Bhaiya played by Divyendu Sharma. Their dynamic is similar to the one shared by Tripathi’s character and his son in the fabulous Neo-noir, Gurgaon. And then there are the brothers Guddu and Bablu, played by Ali Fazal and Vikrant Massey, both of whom are in form as the aspirational sons of a local and fatefully straight-laced lawyer. Kaleen Bhaiya sees them as the perfect balance of brains and brawn, and sensing potential, hires them to join his arms running operation, much to the jealousy of the deeply unhinged Munna, and the dismay of their father.

Mirzapur is a show without a moral center, which is problematic not only ethically, but narratively. Without a single character to bolt on to, the show is left with no option but to reveal in the violence, which is often needlessly over the top. Blood spatters on the camera lens every time someone slits a throat, pops a vein, or empties a clip into an innocent civilian.

But that’s sort of the tone the show settles into. Everything is taken to an extreme every emotion, every line of dialogue and every scene. Once, when a goon expresses a desire to do some drugs, he ends up doing all of them. Lines of coke are snorted, joints are rolled and heroin mainlined. And yet, “bhaiya” lives. It gives the impression of having been directed by a first timer; someone who’s overjoyed at the opportunity, overflowing with cinematic knowledge, and terrified of not getting a second chance. So they pile all their eggs into one “Thali”. It’s abundantly clear that directors Karan Anshuman and Gurmeet Singh have consumed an unhealthy amount of Anurag Kashyap’s films. The cultural impact of his “Gangs of Wasseypur” is often overlooked. While kashyap’s Netflix series “Sacred Games” co-directed with Vikramaditya Motwane, was always intended for global audiences perhaps Mirzapur seems and it aimed mostly at a local crowd. As Mirzapur doesn’t aim high, and yet it fails to hit its target. Sacred Games sequel recently was up on Netflix therefore Mirzapur should probably hurry because the way people are attached to “Sacred Games” characters Mirzapur might need to be retitled if it’s not released soon.