From a rebellious college guy with the dream of winning a bodybuilding competition to becoming a man of unyielding vengeance, Guddu Pandit has undergone a certain deterioration, says "Mirzapur" star Ali Fazal, teasing that the character will witness another "scary" transition in the third season.
In the show's first season, Guddu Pandit started out as a budding bodybuilder with a certain naivety to the character, which quickly vanished when he became entangled with the Tripathi family, led by crime boss Kaleen Bhaiya, played by Pankaj Tripathi.
The show's second chapter charted his journey from a wounded man, mourning the loss of his loved ones, to a completely hardened criminal who finally manages to take his revenge.
What comes after revenge?
The actor said it is actually a very lonely place to be and the highly-anticipated third season will explore it deeply.
"Season three is not one moment. It's an entire season of an arc where this person, in one instance, is saying 'Violence is my USP,' and in another instance, he is a very lonely man, shouting, 'Maza aa raha hai na?' (Are you having fun?). You'll see another transition of its own kind and it's really scary," the actor told PTI in an interview.
Fazal said he hopes people take note of the evolution in the character from season one to two and now the third season. "I would love to hear from audiences, hopefully it has evolved. Hopefully, there is a graph that you can look back at and see how that has changed. And that's how human life changes. We get affected.
"These are people who are living in a very violent world, fictional but that's the story, and there are consequences in their lives. And that is the deterioration that I'm portraying. I wouldn't say it is systematic but periodic deterioration of this man, this innocence of a college kid," he said.
The sad truth of a violent society is that "young college kids will get deteriorated and education will go out the window", Fazal added.
In the third season of the Prime Video series, which drops on July 5, Guddu Pandit will seek to defend the throne of Mirzapur that he took from Kaleen Bhaiya, who is also preparing a comeback.
One of the reasons for the overwhelming popularity of "Mirzapur" is its graphic violence and gore, which is thoroughly enjoyed by viewers who love the show. The portrayal of violence is raw and unflinching, making it a important element of the series and the actor said the viewers enjoy the violence of the show because it is unlike anything they've seen before.
"It's pure schematics, it's great rhythm. It's landing on an off where it hits you and pumps up your adrenaline as a viewer. And you end up liking it because you've not seen such a visual before because of the conditioning that we've had.
"It's the same thing with the Red Wedding from 'Game of Thrones'. In that famous scene, the entire lead cast is totally obliterated at the end of that episode. And you're like, 'wow, what the hell? We've never seen that."
Fazal believes that every show has to explain its relevance, something "Mirzapur" does well and quite unabashedly.
"I suppose that is the fight for relevance, where you're like 'Oh, I have something that you don't, I have a screenplay that you don't.' I have a story that I'm going to tell a certain way that you haven't seen and that sticks," he added.
He said people take certain scenes out of the series for their fun but they often miss the context. "If you go deep, you understand that this character is a very impulsive human being. A fictional human being who is impulsive and he's just been given the gun," he added.
What is the first thing Fazal does when he gets the script of a new season?
The actor said he checks whether his character has survived till the end or not.
"Some very famous actors have said that already. But actually we have to, with Mirzapur characters, you don't know what's going to happen -- mid season, first episode, last episode -- you could be taken out anytime.
"Also, the transition is very important. I feel my character graph has to make total sense. And that for me is very important." The show enjoys a huge fan base in India and that puts extra pressure on the team to do well each season, Fazal said.
"I admire the persistence that they've all just kept us alive with lots of energy, all these years. That really speaks volumes that there's just the quality of the show that brings people back.
"We do enjoy one of the biggest fandoms of its kind. But at the same time, I think, we owe it to the story and to ourselves. I still haven't seen season three, so I don't know how it's expanding. I would like to maybe see it at some point."
Directed by Gurmmeet Singh and Anand Iyer, "Mirzapur" season three will also feature Rasika Dugal, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Vijay Varma, Harshita Shekhar Gaur, Anjumm Shharma, Priyanshu Painyuli, Sheeba Chaddha, Manu Rishi Chadha and Rajesh Tailang.
The show is produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment.