Before Mirzapur 2, Here is a Quick Recap of Season 1

Mirzapur debuted on OTT platform Amazon Prime in November 2018 and quickly curated an almost cult-like following. Even if you have never seen the show, you must have seen the characters in memes and GIFs as they have almost become a part of social media language.

The crime-action thriller is not only named Mirzapur, but the first season was also filmed in the Uttar Pradesh’s city. The central theme of the show is mafia raj, or gunda raj, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It highlights (and exaggerates) lawlessness and the fear of dons that resides within every resident of the small town. Season one ended after just nine episodes. And now the second season will be available to fans on October 23 after a wait of two years.

But before that begins, here is a quick recapitulation of Mirzapur Season 1.

Season 1 opened with the villains’ story – Munna bhaiya (Divyendu Sharma) killing a groom at his wedding procession. Munna is Kaleen Bhaiya’s son (Pankaj Tripathi), who is a carpet businessman for law but actually a don. He has his fingers dipped in a variety of illegal businesses including arms and ammunition. Munna is envious of his father and is eager to take over him.

The “heroes,” at least for the beginning, are brothers Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Bablu Pandit (Vikrant Massey). Guddu is a bodybuilder, admires Munna’s rowdy rule over the college campus and idolises that lifestyle. Bablu is kind and tamer than his brother and is aware that crime never pays. Their father, Ramakant Pandit is a lawyer fighting against Munna in the case of the accidental firing.

The plot begins when Munna arrives at Pandit’s residence with guns and goons to intimidate the family. The family manages to overpower the attackers, with Munna being severely injured. Kaleen Bhaiyya calls the brothers Guddu and Bablu to his house. He is a kind of unofficial lord of the town and everyone follows his orders. Impressed by the brothers’ bravery, he hires them to work for him.

These are the two major plotlines (all of which end with murder).

Munna-Guddu-Bablu:

Their enmity is two-fold. Guddu marries Sweety (Shriya Pilgaonkar) with whom Munna is infatuated to the point of stalking. Second, the brothers gradually rise ranks and become very important in Kaleen’s business. Even Kaleen feels threatened by their power that he unknowingly handed over. There are multiple sub-plots of gang-related violence and their individual story arcs.

Munna stands for college elections and Golu stands in the opposition, further fuelling the enmity.

This plot ends in the finale when Munna goes after the brothers with his father’s blessings. Bablu and Sweety are killed in front of Guddu and Golu (Sweety’s younger sister).

Kaleen’s family and business

Kaleen’s reign attracts many enemies, including a politician, J.P. Yadav and another don, Rati Shankar. Rati is killed by Guddu which is the breaking point for Kaleen to realise that the brothers are out of control. Whereas embarrassed by Munna, Yadav swears to destroy Kaleen.

Kaleen has a much younger wife who is frustrated with her husband’s lack of “love.” She has an affair with the house servant which is discovered by her father-in-law (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) who is as violent and authoritarian as the rest of the clan. He forces Beena to have relations and later forces her to mutilate the servant as a punishment.

Other elements

There is a subplot of a police special team tracking down Kaleen’s illegal empire. It also ends with Kaleen murdering an officer in front of the chief officer heading the task. Rati Shankar’s son, Sharad, is shown to have traces of angst against Mirzapur as he wants to avenge his dead father.