The magic of Biryani comes from its slow-heat cooking. That's what makes the flavours blend and exude the unique aroma and taste.
Mirzapur, the web series, was crafted basis one such recipe, where every frame lingered for just a little more time, caressing the elements in that frame with care.
Cut to Mirzapur, the Movie, and we come across the similar ethos, pathos, bathos delivered by the characters, but it does not quite rustle up the same depth of emotional connect in the audience as the web series.
Creating the aura of Bhaukaal requires the story telling to be slow-cooked at a simmering pace, so as to be able to render a chill down the spine of the audience.
In this chaotic and gory world of feud and crime, Kaleen Bhaiya is the soft-spoken, cold-stare, no-nonsense, steely voice, much like a Don Vito Corleone as portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Pankaj Tripathi had excelled in delivering the same in the web series. In fact, I also found him resembling Marlon Brando of The Godfather, in some of the close-up shots of his face sideways.
"Important yeh Nahin hai ki Munna Chu##ya hai. Important yeh hain ki who hamara beta hain" - had the Bhaukaal quotient dripping, when Kaleen Bhaiya delivered it. But "Bahubali marte nahin hain, marne ki order deta hain" - is an insipid dampener of a dialogue. Such a dialogue suits Munna, but not the boss - Kaleen Bhaiya. When Kaleen Bhaiya delivers the same dialogue, it is stating the too obvious, it is like explaining the aura of Bhaukaal.
This, and such other incidents, strip off Kaleen Bhaiya and the movie from its Bhaukaal status.
Complete contrary to this, was the portrayal of his father Satyanand Tripathi, played by the legendary Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Though confined to a wheel chair, he was depicted in the web series as always watching wild fights of the animal world on television - a beautiful way to portray his mind. In the movie there was only one scene dedicated to establish his unforgiving raw character, the one where he was tearing into a crab and chewing it out at the dinner table with family. That's the stuff acting legends are made of!
The aura of Kaleen Bhaiya, in the web series, had been cultivated by Pankaj Tripathi through his epic performance, whereby in each frame his presence mattered more than his actions or dialogues - even if he was not physically present in the frame! Similar to what Marlon Brando had done in The Godfather.
Mirzapur - the movie however seems to exude the omnipresence of Babban Yadav more convincingly, as portrayed superbly by Ravi Kishan. His calm look, smiling face, subtle actions seem to stand out brightly in contrast to the overall portrayal of the dark world of Mirzapur.
It could be that, because it is a new character, the makers definitely needed to give the character ample screen time to establish its credentials. However, as this is the first movie on Mirzapur, perhaps ample screen time should have been provided to the other leading characters also to establish themselves, instead of relying on the memory these characters occupy in the minds of the audience.
Similarly, attempts to stick to the Bollywood formula of providing all genres of emotions in the same movie, goes absolutely against the core essence of the Mirzapur story. The end-scene of Munna Bhaiya and Guddu Pandit or the fight scene where Bablu Pandit does a filmy peace-making between Munna and Guddu are such dampeners.
Some characterisation changes have been attempted in the movie perhaps on popular demand, like the completely unnecessary intimate scene between Kaleen Bhaiya and Beena Tripathi. The contradiction within the character of Kaleen Bhaiya in being physically incapable to satisfy his wife though being the unquestioned Bahubali, as portrayed in the web series, is what added to the aura and mystique of Mirzapur story. Even the manner in which Kaleen Bhaiya had projected his bodyguard and henchman Maqbool as his proxy to the sexologist, revealed layers of characterisation. Depicting the same Kaleen Bhaiya in a semi-disrobed state on bed with his wife completely robs off the aura of his Bhaukal.
To conclude, I am reminded of an interview of another great actor, Saurabh Shukla, on the making of the film Satya. In the interview, he says while making Satya, they decided first how is it that they want the mafia to be represented in the film - as a separate world in itself like in The Godfather or like being a part of everyday life like in The Goodfellas.
The makers of Mirzapur - the Movie, seems to have shied away from answering a similar question.
As a result, it is the clash between onscreen facts and residual memory of the web series and its Bhaukal aura that perhaps leaves the audience wondering, at the end of it all.