Mirzapur Movie Director Gurmeet Singh Credits Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani for Taking the Big-Screen Risk

Mirzapur: The Movie has taken the hugely popular world of the Prime Video series to the big screen, but according to director Gurmeet Singh, getting the film made was itself a journey that required plenty of belief and courage. During a recent media interaction, the filmmaker opened up about the biggest risk involved in bringing Mirzapur to theatres and credited producers Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Amazon for backing the idea when the theatrical adaptation was still far from straightforward.

When asked what the biggest risk factor was when the team decided to make the film, Gurmeet did not hesitate to put the spotlight on the producers. “The producer took the risk. Yes. So, I think Ritesh and Farhan deserve all the credit because it was their idea; they had been pushing us since 2019, insisting that Mirzapur should come to the big screen and that there was an audience for it there,” he said. According to Gurmeet, the producers repeatedly encouraged the team to explore the possibility, even when the creative team was still figuring out how the story could work as a feature film.

The director explained that the breakthrough came in 2024, when writer Puneet Krishna came up with a different approach to the story. Rather than simply moving the chronology of Mirzapur forward, the team explored a “horizontal” concept based around the first season. Gurmeet recalled, “Finally, in 2024, Puneet-ji came up with an idea—not necessarily moving the story's chronology forward vertically, but a 'horizontal' concept based on the first season. That’s when we realized, 'Yes, this could actually work as a film.'” For Gurmeet, that creative solution helped the team see how the Mirzapur universe could be expanded for cinema without simply turning another chapter of the series into a movie.

Speaking about the financial and creative gamble involved, Gurmeet once again pointed towards the producers and Amazon. “So, regarding the risk itself, the producers—Farhan, Ritesh, and Amazon—are best placed to answer that. They took the risk on this novelty, and they were 100% certain it would pay off,” he added. His comments underline how strongly the producers believed there was a theatrical audience waiting to experience the Mirzapur world on the big screen.

Gurmeet also reflected on his long association with Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, which goes back to the Don 2 era, when he was working as an assistant director. “When we joined Don—as I mentioned, I was an assistant director then—we were learning. Learning from Farhan, learning from Ritesh... they were very young back then too—young directors and producers—but their stature was already immense,” he recalled. He went on to praise the professional environment at Excel Entertainment and the opportunities the banner has created for filmmakers and unconventional stories.

“There are so many examples where they’ve given chances—A, to new directors, and B, to new stories. In that sense, Excel has been a solid home base; they’ve always stood by us. They’ve made it happen. Creatively, there was a lot of freedom, and Mirzapur is different,” Gurmeet said. The filmmaker further added, “So, for the past 10–12 years, I’ve been directing at Excel as well. It’s something that’s only getting stronger.”

Mirzapur: The Movie is directed by Gurmeet Singh and written by Puneet Krishna. Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar under Excel Entertainment, the film features Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Jitendra Kumar and Ravi Kishan. Set within the timeline of the first season of the Mirzapur series, the film expands the franchise into a theatrical action-crime thriller while retaining its familiar characters and world.

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