(Content warning: Mentions of violence, death, and sexual assault)
From the get-go, bloodshed, violence, and surprises (mostly shocks) have been a staple of Mirzapur. With season 3 dropping on Prime Video on 5 July, here are some major plot twists and major character deaths from season 1 and 2 as a brief recap.
1. Season 1 opens up with some major character introductions – Pankaj Tripathi as Kaleen bhaiyya and Divyenndu as his son Munna Tripathi. Kaleen sits at the literal and metaphorical throne of the Purvanchal area since he basically runs Mirzapur. Munna has his sights set on the throne but Guddu’s ‘fighting spirit’ makes him Kaleen’s favourite which doesn’t sit right with Munna. It is also probably because Kaleen takes a liking to Guddu after he beats Munna up.
2. As if things weren’t bad enough for Munna already, he has accidentally killed a groom and a staunch and upright lawyer (Guddu’s father Ramakant) has taken up the case. And to add to that, the woman he is basically stalking (‘love’ is pushing it) Sweety (Shriya Pilagonkar) is in love with Guddu. Sweety and Guddu eventually end up getting married.
3. Kaleen bhaiyya’s rival Rati Shankar (Shubrajyoti Barat) asks Guddu and his brother Bablu (Vikrant Massey) to betray Kaleen and join him instead but Guddu ends up killing him. And naturally, since this is Mirzapur, Rati Shankar’s son Sharad Shukla prepares to avenge his father’s death. Instead of going out guns blazing in true Mirzapur style, he convinces Munna that he is not a threat and tries to become their ally.
4. Kaleen bhaiyya eventually tunes in to the possibility of a power grab by Guddu who has always wanted the ‘paise, gaadi, mehenga ghar’. So he sends Munna to kill Guddu. Munna ends up at a wedding and kills the groom (yes again). When Munna finds out that Sweety is pregnant, he kills her and Bablu. He also near-fatally shoots Guddu.
5. Back at the Tripathi household, Kaleen’s father Satyanand (aka bauji) finds out about Beena’s affair and uses it as blackmail and sexually assaults her. In the later season when Kaleen’s trusted henchman Maqbool shows up to kill bauji (you’ll find out why later), Beena stops him and exacts her revenge by killing him.
6. Season 2 starts with Guddu recovering from his injuries under Sweety’s sister Golu (Shweta Tripathi) and his sister Dimpy’s care. They’ve decided to make a move from the Mirzapur throne. Guddu joins hands with Kaleen’s rival Lala who is responsible for the supply of opium in the area.
7. There’s a new player in the mix – Dadda Tyagi (Lilliput) who sells vehicles in the black market and has two twin songs – Shatrughan and Bharat (played by Vijay Varma). They are also called ‘chhote’ and ‘bade’ respectfully. The Tyagis end up stopping Kaleen’s weapon shipment but after Sharad interferes (he and Bharat are friends), the two families also form an alliance. Golu, on the other hand, is using Shatrughan’s ‘affections’ for her to strike a deal for Guddu but ends up betraying him.
8. After the betrayal, a confrontation between the Tyagis ends up in one of the brothers getting fatally shot but it isn’t exactly clear which brother is confirmed dead. In the season 2 post-credit scene, we find out that the twin who died in Bharat and it’s Shatrughan who has survived and is now pretending to live his life as his elder brother.
9. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh CM, SP Yadav, asks Kaleen to control the violence in Mirzapur since its election season. When his brother JP Yadav had tried the same thing, Kaleen had flat out refused but asks he manages to convince SP Yadav to work with him instead. SP Yadav offers Kaleen a seat in his party and Kaleen urges Munna to marry the CM’s daughter Madhuri Yadav. JP Yadav, not particularly happy by how much he has been slighted so far, gets his brother killed.
10. Not ones to take things lying down, Madhuri and Kaleen bhaiyya (with some involvement from Zarina) plot against JP Yadav (he becomes embroiled in a sexual misconduct case) and he is forced to resign. However, instead of offering Kaleen’s name for the next CM, Madhuri offers her own.
11. Kaleen also finds out that his loyal aide Maqbool’s nephew Babar is working with Guddu. While Maqbool and Babar decide not to interfere in each other’s lives but Munna goes to their house and kills Babar. However, he also ends up killing Babar and Maqbool’s mother which is the reason why the latter shows up to kill bauji later.
12. At her manipulative best, Beena (season 2 was really Rasika Dugal’s season) has joined hands with Guddu and Golu to bring Kaleen bhaiyya down. After bauji’s death, Beena tells them that the Tripathi family is “weak” and they should strike while the iron is hot. Kaleen bhaiya finally chooses Munna as his replacement on the throne but in an attack orchestrated by Golu and Guddu, Munna is shot dead and a gravely injured Kaleen is rescued from the spot by Sharad.
13. But that isn’t the only shootout that takes place. Back in season 1, one SSP Maurya (Amit Sial) had been sent to Mirzapur to control the rising gun violence and he eventually starts investigating Guddu’s (and consequentially Kaleen bhaiyya’s) business. Kaleen, in retaliation, kills Maurya’s team in front of him and by season 2, Maurya is team Kaleen bhaiyya.
However, Maurya later plays on Ramakant’s (Guddu’s father) morality to corner Guddu but tricks the former into luring the latter into a staged encounter. Fearing for his son’s life, Ramakant throws his principles out the window and shoots Maurya dead.
14. As far as the throne of Mirzapur is concerned, Guddu finally sits on the Mirzapur hot seat.
Cue season 3 and more shenanigans because-
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