Mumbai, Sep 15: Actor Abhishek Banerjee believes that “Mirzapur: The Movie” has not only attained massive success at the box office but also shown that there is no dividing line between mainstream Bollywood artists and OTT performers.
The film, which released in theatres earlier this month and has earned over Rs 250 crore at the box office, is the cinematic extension of “Mirzapur”, the popular OTT series that premiered in 2018 and has spanned over three seasons.
Banerjee, who featured as Compounder in the show’s inaugural season in 2018, has reprised the character for the film, which also brings back Pankaj Tripathi as Kaleen Bhaiya, Ali Fazal as Guddu Pandit and Divyenndu as Munna Tripathi.
“I was actually bored with the whole idea of people from the industry putting these tags about OTT and Bollywood actors and this and that… I hope that people are observing and understanding that there is no boundary, and anybody can flip any side,” Banerjee told PTI.
The actor, who also served as a casting director on “Mirzapur” series, recalled having “difficulty” in roping in actors for the OTT platform.
“I remember casting for ‘Mirzapur’ and I remember how difficult it was at that time to communicate to some of the actors that this can be the next big thing. I used to say, ‘Just read the script, if you don’t like the script, say no’.
“Many actors used to say that, ‘I’m not an actor to be seen on a laptop’, and now everybody wants to be a part of a good web show,” said Banerjee, also known for his performances in series “Paatal Lok” and horror comedy franchise “Stree”.
Actor Vijay Varma, who joined “Mirzapur” in its second season as twins Bharat and Shatrughan Tyagi, echoed Banerjee and said, “Everything eventually is a streaming film right now, after theatres.”
He said he always believed the popular franchise had the potential to become a commercial film because of the strong response to the series.
He revealed that it was at one of his birthday parties when Divyenndu had suggested the idea of making a film on “Mirzapur” with producer Ritesh Sidhwani.
“Somewhere the idea germinated and three or four years later we have a movie coming out. It was a bold move by the producers,” the actor added.
Varma said the “Mirzapur” series had not only reached a wider audience across the country but also generated a strong meme culture and built a sizeable following among fans.
“As soon as I did that series, I saw the kind of response people started giving. It’s reached the length and breadth of the country, it amassed a lot of audience, it generated a lot of meme culture,” he said.
“I’m glad that Divyendu, Ali, Pankaj sir, Abhishek, Shweta (Tripathi), and Rasika (Duggal) and all of them are getting their share of screen time. It’s much due and it can open up great possibilities for streaming,” the actor added.
Both Varma and Banerjee are part of Netflix anthology series, “Lust Stories 3”, in which they feature alongside Radhika Apte and Konkona Sen Sharma for Vikramaditya Motwane’s segment.
It will debut on the platform on September 18. (PTI)
