Is Mirzapur: The Movie a great film or just a great reunion with characters we love?

Mirzapur: The Movie is most certainly a fun experience at the theatre. But objectively, is it really a great film, or simply a great reunion with the characters and a world we fell in love with in 2018?The standalone prequel film, which takes place between Episodes 6 and 7 of the first season, is currently serving up a hot bowl of entertainment in theatres, and the numbers it has clocked in just four days since its release on September 4 are proof of that. The film has reportedly collected close to Rs 110 crore nett at the box office and over Rs 150 crore worldwide, while also passing the intense Monday test with flying colours.While it is evident that the masses have accepted the film wholeheartedly, there are several conversations around the quality of the film that make us wonder - is it the film and its content that are working, or is the Mirzapur brand simply covering up all its underwhelming aspects?Take away the characters, the history and the nostalgia, and would audiences still be this forgiving? There have been several films following this template across the Indian film industry in the last few years that audiences haven't taken kindly to. Yet, Mirzapur: The Movie seems to be receiving a very different response despite having several of the same elements. The action, humour, violence and larger-than-life confrontations can often feel like something borrowed from a 2010s commercial action template, particularly Rohit Shetty territory or the South Indian mass-action films that dominated that period. It is undeniably a fun theatrical experience, but content-wise, it feels like an average film, especially when measured against the standards that Mirzapur itself has set.But the question isn't whether Mirzapur: The Movie is a mindless entertainer. It isn't. There is merit in the writing, and the essence of Mirzapur does carry forward into the film. In fact, the first half is where you see that merit most clearly. The politics are set up, the stakes are drawn, the characters connect, and Ravi Kishan makes a fabulous entry as Babban Yadav into the Mirzapur universe.One scene, in particular, represents the efficiency of the writing in the first half. It is when Ravi Kishan's Babban meets Pankaj Tripathi's Akhandanand Tripathi aka Kaleen Bhaiya for the first time. The king of Mirzapur is facing off against a man he doesn't yet know is gunning for his throne. The sheer intensity of that encounter, coupled with the dialogue exchange between the two characters, is simply Mirzapur. Stills from the trailer of Mirzapur: The Movie (Photo: YouTube/Excel Entertainment) The scale and spectacle work too. From the rooted authenticity of the gullies in Uttar Pradesh to the majestic dunes of Rajasthan, the practical stunts and action set pieces are exciting. Bringing back Divyendu's Munna Tripathi while keeping his signature wit intact is simply amazing. Add to that his best friend Compounder, played by Abhishek Banerjee, and the banter between the two is instantly reminiscent of what made these characters so much fun in the first place.But if you haven't realised it yet, we have very naturally started getting into the nostalgia zone — just like the film does.And perhaps that is precisely where the question becomes more interesting. How much of what we are celebrating belongs to the film itself, and how much belongs to the memories we already carry with these characters?Like Munna Bhaiya, even Bablu Pandit's return to the screen brings back a lot of memories. The brotherhood between Guddu and Bablu was one of the highlights of Season 1, which is why Bablu Pandit's death at the end of the season came as such a shock to audiences.Despite Vikrant Massey, who originally played Bablu Pandit, not returning, the character still retains a certain charm, even with Jitendra Kumar stepping into the role. In fact, that familiarity seems to work in the film's favour. No matter how out of character Bablu feels throughout the film, there is an inherent warmth attached to the character because of everything we remember about him from Season 1. A still of Bablu and Guddu Pandit from the trailer of Mirzapur: The Movie (YouTube/Excel Entertainment) And this is where Mirzapur: The Movie starts becoming an interesting case study in nostalgia. We aren't necessarily responding to what the character is doing in the film; we are responding to what Bablu Pandit means to us as Mirzapur fans. With that making way for him to be anywhere between Sherlock Holmes and Marvel's Daredevil, under the convenient cover of him simply being smarter than the rest of the Mirzapur folk.The same goes for the scenes that essentially pay homage to some of the most iconic moments from the series. Recreating familiar situations, bringing back the same craziness and even echoing the dialogues that fans remember have worked extremely well with the audience. But again, that raises the same question: is the film creating something memorable of its own, or is it simply recreating moments we already loved and allowing nostalgia to do the heavy lifting?That distinction becomes particularly important in the second half, where the film begins to lean more heavily into spectacle and familiar commercial-action tropes.This is where the film's problems start to look glaring — the excessive runtime, unnecessary subplots and a predictable screenplay that takes the mass-commercial route as soon as it moves out of Mirzapur. In doing so, it almost feels like the film exits the creative territory that made the series so compelling in the first place.There is one scene that stands out, though. The underlying tension between Guddu and Munna resurfaces when they get into a drag race while travelling in a convoy with Kaleen Bhaiya. It is a genuinely fun sequence because it taps into the complicated dynamic between these characters rather than simply throwing spectacle at us.Everything that follows, however, feels like an extended climax lifted from a familiar commercial template — the big item number, a grand action sequence where all our protagonists, including Bablu, suddenly acquire exceptional gunman-ship, and heightened melodrama that struggles to evoke any real emotion because we already know where these characters eventually end up.All these attempts to “package” the film as a big-screen spectacle have only diluted its quality. At around two hours and 40 minutes, it could have been just as entertaining; instead, the three-hour-17-minute runtime makes the padding increasingly obvious. The random cutaways and forced integration of supporting characters feel less like storytelling and more like reminders that this is Mirzapur.Even Rasika Dugal's Beena Tripathi gets a major subplot. It is predictable and fairly typical, yet it works around the climax. But remove it, and what really changes?And that is where the disconnect becomes more apparent. If you have been swept away by the nostalgia of seeing these characters again, all of this can still feel incredibly entertaining. But remove that emotional familiarity, and what remains is a fairly conventional commercial action film that we have seen several times before.So, let's strip Mirzapur: The Movie of Mirzapur for a moment.Imagine the same film with unfamiliar faces, no three-season history behind its characters and no iconic dialogues for the audience to recognise. Would the same action sequences get the cheers? Would the humour land as well? Would the predictable twists and convenient character turns be dismissed as easily?We genuinely doubt it. That doesn't take away from the film's ability to entertain. There is enough here to make for a fun outing, and the performances, scale and familiar chemistry clearly work. But the goodwill surrounding the film feels bigger than the film itself.We aren't just watching a new story featuring characters we love; we are watching those characters come back to life, and that emotional connection can make even familiar or underwhelming material feel special.Perhaps that is the real success of Mirzapur: The Movie. It has managed to turn nostalgia into a theatrical experience. The bigger question, though, is whether we would have celebrated the film this much if we weren't already in love with Mirzapur.Because if this were simply a standalone action film, stripped of the brand, the characters and everything we remember from 2018, we would be having a very different conversation about it.- EndsPublished By: Sanjay Ponnappa CSPublished On: Sep 8, 2026 11:11 ISTMUST WATCH: