As far as the Indian OTT scene is concerned, Amazon Studios’ Mirzapur probably boasts the most stacked ensemble of characters, each of whom is intriguing in their own regard and has distinctive motivations and character arcs. In the vicious game played in the arena of politics and the underworld, strength of character is the key to survival, irrespective of one’s allegiance, which has been highlighted prominently throughout the series. While the recently released third season of Mirzapur didn’t add any major characters, the existing ones go through significant ups and downs over the course of ten episodes, and by the time a fourth season gets released, they will take an altogether different stance in the context of the narrative itself. We would like to briefly go through the journeys of the key characters in the third season, while also exploring the future possibilities while we are at it.
Spoilers Ahead
Guddu Pandit: No Chance for Redemption
In the third season, the dreaded gangster of Mirzapur, Guddu Pandit (Ali Fazal) was in the front and center of the narrative and had gone through a major transformation by the end of the season. In the second season of Mirzapur, Guddu Pandit took revenge for his wife and brother’s deaths by killing Munna; however, vengeance didn’t provide him with the solace he had hoped for, and to distract himself, he focused on the next big thing, sitting on the throne of Mirzapur and becoming a hotshot in the Purvanchal underworld. However, the ever-volatile, unpredictable, and violent Guddu lost his nerve after his closest associate, Golu, was abducted and presumably killed, which led him to wreak way more havoc and bloodshed than even someone like Kaleen or Munna was capable of. At one point, Kaleen compares Guddu to Bhasmasur, the demon from Hindu mythology whose destructive powers became the reason for his own undoing, and he is absolutely right in that regard. Lack of restraint, composure, and patience led Guddu to a murderous rampage, and his self-destructive ways tore apart his own family at the end—if not through his father, Ramakant Pandit’s incarceration, then surely through Robin’s violent death at Guddu’s hands. Even though, by the end of the season, Guddu had escaped imprisonment and reunited with Golu, which hints at a new beginning for the duo, there is no chance that Guddu won’t have to face consequences for his actions. What’s worse, now he can never rely on his family for emotional support ever again—after he himself has burned his the bridge. After ending Munna Bhaiya, Guddu has become a worse monster than the one he was fighting.
Golu Gupta: Aiming to Take Down the Prime Target
In the third season, Golu Gupta (Shweta Tripathi) has proved time and again how important her tactical prowess is in the vicious game of politics and the underworld, both through her presence and absence. Unlike the hot-headed, near-deranged Guddu, she had taken proper and exact measures to protect the seat of Mirzapur and is undoubtedly a way better leader than Guddu could ever be. Having seen her fair share of reality, she has stepped up a lot from being the nerdy college girl, and the third season proves that as she shows her capabilities both on and off the battlefield. However, unlike Guddu, she is not as strongly motivated by the ambition of controlling the underworld, and as Dimpy suggests later, she could have sought out a life of her own had she not been entangled in the bloody cycle of death and violence. Probably it’s her love for Guddu that makes her stick her neck in the danger zone time and time again, even though she still had the chance to bail out for her own good.
Golu was missing from the narrative through half of the season, and after escaping, she at once decides to target Madhuri’s political career by allying herself with J.P. Yadav and other political adversaries of the CM, and the repercussions will be felt in the fourth season of the series. After all, with CM Madhuri breathing over them, she and Guddu can’t catch a break, and she is right to target the big fish without getting bothered by small fry. The relationship between Guddu and Golu will gain prime focus in the upcoming season as well.
Sharad Shukla: The Rivalry Ends in Blood
Jaunpur’s don, Sharad Shukla (Anjum Sharma) made the vow upon his father’s death that he would take the throne of Mirzapur, fulfilling his late father and Tripathi family nemesis Rati Shankar Shukla’s wish. However, in either politics or the underworld, depending too much on others is a sure-shot way to one’s own doom, a lesson Sharad eventually learned at the cost of his life. By rescuing a grievously injured Kaleen Bhaiya, nursing him back to normalcy, and burying the past rivalry with him, Sharad had hoped for his backing to gain the seat of Mirzapur and strengthen his position in Purvanchal, taking the battle to Guddu and Golu in the process. And initially, Kaleen was eager to give away his throne as well. Sharad also got closely acquainted with CM Madhuri and was apparently making all the right moves to strengthen their alliance. But he was too timid and reflective for his own good, and at the same time, he didn’t think of retracing his steps. Even when Madhuri gave him a chance to acknowledge his past crime of orchestrating the death of her father, the late CM Surya Pratap Yadav, Sharad was so sure of his cover-ups that he didn’t even bother to inquire. Ultimately, his dependency on others led to his demise, and a life that had better potential in other, better trades was wasted in a vain effort in the power struggle of the underworld. Kaleen Bhaiya’s betrayal and killing of Sharad was not something shocking to the viewers at all; even without Madhuri’s command, the former king of Mirzapur might have ended up stabbing Sharad in the back at some point.
Kaleen Bhaiya: Back to the Lion’s Den
The former uncrowned king of Mirzapur and of the entire Purvanchal, the dreaded don Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi), had much less screen time in the third season of Mirzapur. After losing his son, Munna, whom he had considered a worthy successor to carry his legacy, and losing his father/chief advisor, Bauji, as well, Kaleen Bhaiya didn’t feel the urge to carry on the bloody game any longer, and as he recovered at Shukla Bhavan, he considered the option of going into complete renunciation and retiring to Kashi to spend the rest of his life in spiritual devotion. But fate has not arranged such a peaceful life for people with as violent a past as him, and as Madhuri coerces him to turn on Sharad in exchange for the safety of Beena and ‘his son’, Kaleen has no other option than to don his old, bloodied garb. By the end of the season, Kaleen eliminates the entire Purvanchal council of dons, including the consigliere Ali Abbas Mir, the chief don of west Uttar Pradesh. However, he fails to capture either Golu or Guddu, which means he will have to face enemies on both fronts in the upcoming season: Golu/Guddu on one side and West UP’s don on the other. With Mirzapur back in his grip, Kaleen will surely be in a more advantageous position than his opponents.
CM Madhuri Yadav: Enemy on All Fronts
Despite being the newest candidate in the game of Uttar Pradesh politics/underworld, CM Madhuri Yadav (Isha Talwar) holds the most power due to her position as the head of the state, and within her brief period in the office, she has proven herself to be a fierce, capable politician. Be it launching a crackdown against Guddu, thwarting attempts of her opponents to weaken the chain of command, or destabilizing the underworld scene of Purvanchal by taking down all the smaller dons using Kaleen’s help, Madhuri has what it takes to not only survive but thrive in this dog-eat-dog world. Her motivations are fuelled by her desire to uphold the legacy of her father and also to create a crime-free state (according to her convenience), and so far, she has learned from her mistakes to improve further. However, her present stance also means that she has a lot of enemies to deal with, which include Guddu and Golu, and other political oppositions, both of the parties are already conspiring to topple her government. Even in her family, Kaleen and Beena are not to be trusted, and probably aside from her PA Anand, there isn’t a single soul who can give her advice without being motivated by self-interest. For now, she has the supreme power and seemingly is the kingmaker of UP’s underworld as well, but she needs to tread carefully in the fourth season to ensure the situation remains the same way.
Shatrughan Tyagi: The Deceit Continues?
After the death of his elder brother, Bharat, in a brutal shootout in the second season, the younger of the Tyagi twins, Shatrughan (both played by Vijay Verma), begins to impersonate him. Approval from family, recognition in life, and escape from his own sorry state were his reasons to do so, but living a dual life, Shatrughan soon realizes that he had bitten off more than he can chew. To make matters worse for himself, he abducted Golu Gupta as well, after not being able to deal with her rejection, and everything came crashing down in his life soon enough. As of now, Saloni, Bharat’s wife, probably knows his true identity; Golu clearly knows, and it remains to be seen whether the rest of the Tyagi family gets to learn about his deceit as well in the fourth season.
The Pandit family is in shame
The Pandit family was at the receiving end of the most tragic repercussions since the first season, which doubled down in the third season even further. Guddu Pandit is in his worst, manic phase and has been cut off entirely from his family. Ramakant Pandit (Rajesh Tailang) the idealist, has become disillusioned by the bitter reality of the system, and as he awaits his hearing, he gets entrapped further. Robin, Dimpy’s boyfriend, who was going to become the supporting son of the family, which Guddu could have never become, was violently killed by Guddu himself. The only ray of hope is Dimpy Pandit (Harshita Gaur) the youngest member of the family, who has inherited her father’s strict moral compass, a noble, kind, and benevolent demeanor, and a zeal to help others. Even though, due to social conventions, Dimpy was never entrusted with responsibilities like her deceased and failed brothers were, she has what it takes to support her family and uphold the legacy of her ever-righteous father. Mirzapur shows time and again that the brutal landscape is not meant for the honorable, meek, and mild, and learning from Ramakant’s mistakes, his daughter will surely improvise and adapt in a better way in the future. In the fourth season, it will be interesting to see whether Dimpy stands as an opposition political presence to Madhuri, which was briefly hinted at during their last conversation.
Beena Tripathi: Cat Out of the Bag
Lastly, the prime survivor of the series, Beena Tripathi (Rashika Dugal) gets another chance to stay in the game as she secures a good life for herself and her newborn son. However, with Maqbool (Shaji Chaudhary) returning in the fourth season (teased at the final moments of the third season), she might have to do major damage control to cover up her lies and deceit. Maqbool knows about Kaleen’s infertility, which means he also knows that Beena’s son doesn’t belong to the Tripathi lineage. Also, apart from the housemaid Radhiya, Maqbool was the witness, who saw Beena kill Bauji, and Kaleen has no idea about either of these two situations. Through the third season, Beena was trying to capture an often-trespassing black cat, symbolizing a bad omen, which suggested a tragedy was about to befall in her life. And with Kaleen Bhaiya and Maqbool’s return, it seems the proverbial cat will get out of the bag after all.
