Mirzapur: The Film has finally hit the big screen, and the film has already crossed the Rs 10 crore mark in the first half of its opening day, with 5,780 shows across India. Starring Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu Sharma, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, and Abhishek Banerjee, the film is trending on social media and ticket-booking platform BookMyShow. Mirzapur’s Golu aka Shweta Tripathi Sharma, talking exclusively to SCREEN, believes it offers something for everyone — the OG fans and newbies. “There is something for all,” she said.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

How do you feel about the buzz around Mirzapur: The Film?

When you work with actors like Pankaj Tripathi, you learn to become neutral. You are neither happy nor sad about anything. There is so much happening right now that I am unable to process it. I can tell you that I am excited. But the thing is, I don’t have the time to understand these things. Too many things are happening in a very little time. We are having a party with the audience. I am just hoping that this party goes on for multiple weeks.

How do you differentiate Mirzapur: The Film from the Mirzapur show?

The scale changes when a series turns into a movie. The biggest change is the community-watching experience. When you watch a series on OTT, you are mostly watching it individually or with two or three people. But watching something you have loved over the years on the big screen with an entire community is completely different. People are going in groups to watch the film. This will create an environment where people clap, hoot and shout while watching the film.

Has there been any change in how you approach your character for the film?

Acting doesn’t change. But the addition of songs and the set-making wowed us. We were like, “Wow, man, this is so pretty.” One thing that was different was the makeup and costumes, which were elevated. So, a lot of technical aspects were elevated.

Plus, for a movie, the number of days we took to shoot the film is more than the days we took to shoot, say, eight or nine episodes of the show. The filmmaking experience gave us a little bit of breathing space because when it comes to making a series, we do triple the work in the same amount of time compared to what we did for the film.

Is it mandatory for viewers to have watched the show to understand the film?

People who haven’t watched the series — I want to ask them, “Kaahe nahi dekhe ho bhai?” But jokes aside, if you have not watched the series, you will still understand the film.

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Meanwhile, for the fans, it is going to be a treasure-hunting experience. This is mainly because they are aware of the characters and their traits, so they will enjoy it more than people who don’t have that context.

To explain this in simple words, the ingredients have been the same, but the size of the thali has expanded. More flavours have been added in the form of Ravi Kishan and Jeetendra Kumar.

Has there been a shift in chemistry with Vikrant Massey being replaced by Jeetendra Kumar?

Jeetendra blended in so well with all of us that it didn’t feel like he was new. Jeetu has been everybody’s favourite Jeetu bhaiya. Vikrant has been a great actor and someone who always delivers. We did think that we would miss him. But when Jeetendra came in and the way he blended in, it became very easy.

However, it is not very easy to play a character that is already very well-loved. But when he got into the character and we saw the photos, he looked like he had always been a part of it.

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Which version of Golu are we going to see in the film?

In the film, people will only watch the story of Season 1. I am the very geeky Golu, who believes in intelligent people and changing the system. She is standing for the college president’s election against Munna. You will see the Golu who falls in love for the first time. We will see the relationship phase of Golu. We have nine songs in the film, and they are all so beautiful. Saanson Ki Mala and Sajanwa are my favourites. And that is the flavour of the film.

Did the CBFC interference take away from the originality of Mirzapur?

I believe it is very important to respect the committee that has been given certain responsibilities. We often get all aggressive around them, but it is very important to first sit back and think about what they are trying to tell us.

The CBFC members were very kind. The edits suggested by them were very understanding. They are very intelligent people. They have all watched Mirzapur and they are all our well-wishers. They want projects to do well because when a project does well, everybody benefits from it — right from the vendors to the rickshaw man.

Whatever the CBFC suggested was valid, and we totally respected it. But I want to assure you that the flavour has been intact. The cuts haven’t impacted it. Some changes they suggested have even worked in our favour. They cleared many obstacles for us.

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We shouldn’t fear challenges. Sometimes we might get frustrated, but if you are smart, you can get through such obstacles and find a way around them. That has been done. The flavour has been left untouched.

What happens if the past Golu from the film meets the future Golu from the latest season?

The future Golu will just hug the past Golu so tightly, while the past Golu will remain clueless and wonder what’s wrong with the future Golu. She might just roll her eyes at the future Golu.

She will tell the past Golu to live her life to the fullest because life is going to be tough. I will give her a lot of books and poetry to mentally prepare her for her future.