Gurmeet Singh on Pankaj Tripathi's Creative Brillance in Mirzapur

What makes Mirzapur so compelling to watch is its intricate characters and their dramatic performances. According to the show’s director Gurmeet Singh, the key to creating such intricate performances is giving the actors enough freedom to help develop the characters.

In a recent interview with Rahul Varun for The Filmy Charcha Podcast, Gurmeet Singh spoke about his long-standing professional relationship with Pankaj Tripathi, who has been portraying Akhandanand Tripathi, also known as Kaleen Bhaiya, in the series.

“There’s a certain kind of humility and tenderness in him,” said Singh. “We’ve spent a lot of time together, especially working on three seasons of Mirzapur and the film.

The director spoke of the relaxed atmosphere on the sets of Mirzapur, where everyone got along despite the show’s violent content.

“The camaraderie would be good. As artists, the comfort level helped us be more focused and not think too much about other aspects of the work,” added Gurmeet Singh.

When asked if he could think of an example of when Tripathi improved the show by adding his own take on a scene, Gurmeet Singh had several examples.

“There was a petrol pump episode when Guddu came late, and Kaleen Bhaiya started talking to his younger son about how he should respect his elder brother and how intelligent he was,” recalled Singh.

He also talked about an example of Munna and Makbool, saying Tripathi came up with the idea of telling Makbool to be careful around Munna.

“The more experienced you are as an actor, the more layers you can add to a character,” remarked Singh. “That’s what I love about Pankaj, his improvisations. Even though he has his ideas and suggestions, we always managed to keep it in check so it didn’t overshadow the main plot and character development.

As an actor, freedom means having a chance to do whatever it takes to develop a character. But the director must also create sufficient conditions and psychological comfort for the actors to do their work.

“The more invisible we are, the better,” concluded Gurmeet Singh.

As mentioned above, according to Gurmeet Singh, a director should not spoil an actor’s natural talent.

Therefore, directors “should not put obstacles in front of actors who know their job and have something to say, as well as a clear idea of what they want to say.

“The director’s job is to create conditions for actors to speak in a particular way,” argued Gurmeet Singh.

At the same time, the director noted that such freedom is given to actors only when they fully earn the trust of the director. Also, a director should not frighten his actors and should make them comfortable so they feel free to speak.

“The director’s task is to create conditions for the actors to do the most incredible job possible. When the director and actor have a good relationship, it has a beneficial effect on the work process,” said Gurmeet Singh.