Mirzapur, the web series manages to hold the interest but does not leave on a high. It's very gross at times but seems to gel with the story. The two gross moments of blood is when Guddu and Bablu do their first killing and Munna learns to use the shaving knife. The other killings are usually fast and go out of the frame quickly. It creates more blood than fear though the attempt was to create more fear.
The weakest point of the plot is to establish that compounder did an attempt to kill Akhandanand in connivance with Guddu and Bablu. The narrative and plot should have been stronger there especially as it is a turning point in the story. Munna goes there and finds the missed call in compounders mobile and that too after so many days when the mobile would have drained down. And now a days everyone keeps their mobile locked. Munna might be knowing about the unlock sequence but how Makbool can know it. I felt that it should have been a stronger narrative built to establish the relationship. Not sure if I missed but a casual discussion between Akhandanand and Guddu about compounder helping him in Mr Poorvanchal would have built the narrative. Also, it was at odds that there was no mention of touching the tablets by the compounder in some way so that it increases the violence level in Guddu. It comes out only if you are paying too much attention.
The other weak point of the story was Guddu forgetting his revolver in the restroom when Munna enters in the wedding hall. A gangster would forget to put his pants up but never his revolver. We can give a benefit of doubt that he still was not out from the defeat in Mr. Purvanchal but it still asks for a stronger narrative. Also, the whole wedding hall scene treatment looks like a bit tired. It seems as if people wanted to wrap it fast. It was more like the second part of Bahubali where the last battle was wrapped up by doing something.
However overall the protagonist Guddu and Babloo come out very strongly. The subtleness in Bablu is worth watching. The dialogues between Bablu and his father were gripping. That part could have been explored more. The relationship could have been a good platform to explore further what lures the boys into the world of crime. Even when they accept to work for Akhandanand, the intensity in acceptance did not come out pretty well. It was not looking like a decision between starting own or doing a job but more of a decision in terms of choosing two equally ranked colleges.
The character of Akhandanand comes out sharply at times but one point where it disappoints is the non-verbal cues. I think if rather than doing a jerk off mouth that expression could have brought only with eyes it would have been more powerful. The character at times looks very weak also as if he is getting driven by the events and not really driving it. The other point where it fails miserably is when Guddu tells him that he has to take decisions based on the situation, in the context of the killing of Rati Shankar Shukla. Akhandanand abruptly closes that discussion. It's not Pankaj Tripathi problem but the handling of the screenplay and the dialogues. There was a shift in trajectory in the story and it needed better treatment. Even the character of Ram Sharan Maurya is brought with a high hope but does not gets fair treatment. Why he was even brought in the story? There was a lot of blood but very less fear at many points in the story.
Babloo exiting the scene is interesting because I felt he is the character who was controlling the narrative all along. This is one character which ties the world of crime and of middle-class ethics. He is the one who takes you on a journey of dilemmas otherwise all other characters are sharply black or white. It will be interesting to see which character evolves after that. For me the two strong characters still in the story but does not come often are Babloo's father and Rati Shankar's son. Also, Guddu needs to evolve but he still needs a brain on his side. Could that be Golu? And Akhandanand's father is so smart but could not relate compounder's and Munna's relationship. Would love to have more sharp one-liners from him in next.
And some sharp and strong female characters evolving also will be good. Any such story needs a strong domestic angle. Need to put Akhandanand at a spot more on that and now Guddu. Need to build more fear than blood.
The best dialogue for me was "मुझे violence से डर नहीं लगता मगर तुमको violence में मजा आ रहा है, इससे डर लगता है "
It will be interesting to see how the story evolves from here. I will wait for the next.
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