The co-directors of Amazon Prime Video’s Mirzapur, Karan Anshuman and Gurmeet Singh, speak to Guardian 20 about the idea behind their soon-to-be-released gangster drama and the representation of women in the show.
Q. How was Mirzapurconceived?
Karan Anshuman: To begin with, the idea was to step away from high-profile rich people’s world and do something different… To go towards the extreme, polar opposite of that world and take up the subject that was set in a really small town in India, with a lot more rooted connection with our characters. So that was one big motivation. However, having said that we had this idea for a while and this was something I and Puneet [Krishna], who is the co-creator of the show, were developing and we were just waiting for the right kind of platform and the right moment when this story could be told without any compromise. Mirzapur is essentially a gangster drama which is set against the backdrop of a town in Eastern U.P. We have also incorporated bits and pieces of our own experiences in this hyper-real world of violence and action. And we also wanted to portray action in a way it has never been done before. These are all the reasons why Mirzapur came about.
Q. What do you mean when you say “you wanted to portray action in a way it has never been done before”?
Karan: You know how it is on the web, it is pretty much unshackled by any guideline. If you look at the films that have been made under this genre, they had to work around and cut away from actually portraying real, visceral, hard-hitting sequences, heart-thumping action that makes you cover your eyes but you still want to see it. And now we had the chance to do that and include all the sequences because of platforms like Amazon… We just took advantage of this platform and tried to do something that has never been done before.
Q. Apart from it being a gangster drama, what are the other themes that the series explores?
Karan: You will see a bit of everything in this show. For example, you will see a lot of humour which you currently can’t see in the trailer, but there are a lot of funny sequences. There is irony. The USP of the show is how we explore relationships and family dynamics like that of a father-son relationship who are gangsters. There are mobsters, mafia and then there are college-going kids who are ambitious in their own way but circumstances don’t allow them [to succeed]. There is a lot to take away from the women [characters] in the series. They are very empowering despite being in a patriarchal world. They have a mind of their own.
Q. Do you think being both the writer and director of the show gives you an upper hand as far as understanding the plot and characters is concerned?
Karan: You are right. A writer has a better say and we try to follow the writer. But having said that, Gurmeet and I have worked together in the past as well and there has never been an issue about who has an upper hand. It was about what was more convenient at that time… It has been a very collaborative process where everyone was very happy working together. There was calm on the set every time.
Gurmeet Singh: We all came together as a unit to pull it off because we knew that we are attempting something that will not be easy to pull off. The fact that it [the show] is very detailed required us to make a lot of efforts as a unit. It was very challenging to shoot, so we didn’t want any clarity issues to get in the way. It was very good that both Karan and Puneet were supportive and allowed everyone on the set their freedom… But whenever we needed them we had them answering our questions… It was a fun process.
Q. Co-directing is a fairly new concept in India. How was your experience with it?
Gurmeet: Fortunately, I and Karan have worked together earlier as well. We have also worked in Inside Edge [sports drama on Amazon]. We had a good working relationship and so we got into this together. A series does require a lot of collaboration because it is too much for one person to execute that much content that further depends on the availability of actors, timing etc… So it does need more hands, more brain, more creative people to collaborate and work together. And that’s just what we decided to do and it was more or less about trying to accommodate our logistical decisions in a way that the show could benefit from us and our individual skill set. That’s how we divided the work.
Q. How are the women characters portrayed in this gangster drama?
Gurmeet: Maybe the women characters are not well featured in the trailer right now, so the audience doesn’t know what they are going to contribute to the show but because all of them [Rasika Dugal, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Shweta Tripathi] are such accomplished actors, they can bring more life to a project if they have something meaty to do and they definitely have that in the show. All the women characters are very empowered and that’s something both the creators [Karan and Puneet] were very clear about when they were etching out their characters. They go head-to-head with the men in the show… In fact, most of the time you will see them surprising the men in the show.
Q. Which genres, according to you, best suit the digital medium?
Karan: I think all genres work. I don’t think there are any exceptions. We have enough examples of what they are doing in the West and the kinds of shows they are producing. Also, between us, we are doing stories that are political, action, romance, sports-based… We are doing many interesting things. The idea of something like Amazon Prime Video as a platform is that you have something for everyone… I think there are more genres that are being explored on digital platforms than they have been in cinema.
Q. Since both of you have been part of Hindi cinema, when can we see you making movies again?
Gurmeet: Hopefully soon. But we are currently enjoying this medium and we have a handful of shows for this medium. We will individually come back and make films and make a mark there as well.
Karan: Certain stories can only be told through films and don’t need 8-10 hours. Those are the subjects we are actively looking at when it comes to making films. But right now we are really enjoying pioneering, making good programmes for television after a long time… We are pioneering this whole thing of reclaiming good content for television and I want to make sure that we do this to the best of our capabilities.