The much-awaited ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’ is all set to bring the beloved crime saga from OTT to the big screen this September. The recently released teaser has already created a buzz, with fans celebrating the return of fan-favourite characters such as Munna Bhaiya (Divyenndu) and Compounder (Abhishek Banerjee). However, fans unanimously felt the absence of Vikrant Massey in the film. While Bablu Pandit will be back in the film, the character will now be portrayed by Jitendra Kumar instead of Vikrant.The reason behind Vikrant’s departure from one of the show’s most memorable roles remains undisclosed. However, amidst the teaser launch of ‘Mirzapur, Vikrant recently recalled fond memories of the series. The actor looked back fondly on his time in the series and admitted that he still wishes Bablu’s story had continued. “I wish they hadn’t killed me,” Vikrant said with a smile during a conversation with FLO Bangalore Official. He further shared that he never imagined either his character or the show would go on to become such a cultural phenomenon when he first came on board.“When Mirzapur came my way, it was actually just a bunch of enthusiastic people coming together. There were a lot of wonderful women who were a part of it too, but primarily the show had, say, maybe 85 percent men involved, both in front of and behind the camera. It was simply a group of people who came together and said, ‘Let’s make this show.’” Speaking about Excel Entertainment’s faith in the project, Vikrant praised the production house for backing a story rooted in the Indian heartland at a time when such narratives were still uncommon in mainstream entertainment. “So it was just a bunch of people getting together, going out there and indulging our testosterones, our male egos, or patriarchy, if you could say.”He also reminisced about the overwhelming response the series received immediately after its release and how Bablu Pandit became a household name almost overnight. “I remember very vividly that I was in Lucknow the day the show came out. I was shooting for a film called Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi. I was doing a 7 am to 7 pm shift. I entered the set around 6 or 6:30 am. It wasn’t even properly bright yet. But by the time the shoot was about to get over, I heard some chaos outside the location. The director and the assistants were finding it a little difficult to control the sound because we shoot in sync sound. And then we realised that there were at least 200–300 people outside the location because news had spread that Bablu Bhaiya was shooting there.”Reflecting on that unforgettable moment, Vikrant said he was taken aback by the scale of the audience’s love, especially since it happened within a day of the show’s premiere. “And this happened within 24 hours. The show launched at 12 midnight, and this was the next evening, so maybe after 17–18 hours. There were people on bikes following my car. They wanted pictures with me, they wanted selfies, and autographs. And that is when we realised that we’d actually made something good, something people were really enjoying watching.”
