Farhan Akhtar has opened up about the thought process behind bringing the popular ‘Mirzapur’ universe to the big screen, saying the overwhelming audience response to the first two seasons made him and producer Ritesh Sidhwani believe that the franchise had the potential to become a feature film
MUMBAI — Farhan Akhtar has opened up about the thought process behind bringing the popular ‘Mirzapur’ universe to the big screen, saying the overwhelming audience response to the first two seasons made him and producer Ritesh Sidhwani believe that the franchise had the potential to become a feature film.
He told IANS that the idea was to create a cinematic experience that retained the larger-than-life world of ‘Mirzapur’ while ensuring that even those unfamiliar with the series could enjoy the film as a standalone story.
Asked as a producer, what made you feel that the Mirzapur universe had the potential to expand into a feature film or how do you decide when an established franchise needs a new chapter and when is it best to leave the legacy untouched?
Farhan told IANS: “You know, the thing is that whenever we travelled anywhere after the first and second seasons, people would always ask us, ‘When is the next instalment of Mirzapur coming? What is going to happen next? When will it be made? Is there going to be a third season?’”
He added: “So, there was a general excitement that we could sense whenever we stepped out. We felt that the kind of content and writing in the film, as well as the series, would work very well on the big screen.”
Farhan shared that the characters are larger than life, and most people have “experienced this world individually or with their families while watching the series at home.”
“However, the film had the potential to offer a community viewing experience.”
“Given the kind of story it tells and the world it is set in, Ritesh and I both felt, towards the end of the second season, that this was something we could seriously consider. It was also important for us not to take it for granted that everyone coming to watch the film would have seen the Mirzapur series,” he shared
Farhan said that he along with other makers wanted to ensure that even those who had never watched the series could come and enjoy the film, and leave feeling that they had watched a complete film in itself.
“That was one of the challenges. But with Puneet's writing and Guru's direction, everything came together beautifully. We had believed quite early on that this world could translate very well into a feature film.”
As the film is now set to release digitally on Prime Video, does it feel like a homecoming as the platform made the series version a phenomenon?
“It's coming back home on some level. So yeah, it always feels great. And there's an audience, a different audience who watch the film on streaming. So we'll reach out to them also through this, through it now coming on Amazon Prime.”