Actor M M Faruqui aka Lilliput says that playing gangster Dadda in the OTT series Mirzapur 2 (2020) earned him love and appreciation from the audience. However, it did not translate into work. “No one would imagine me playing a gangster. It gave me a second innings. I credit the vision of the writer to pen such a character and director to think of me. Unfortunately, it did not translate into work,” says the Sagar (1985) and Bunty Aur Babli (2005) actor.

He adds, “Since the ’80s, I have played memorable roles that are etched in the memory of the audience, and they have showered enormous love. Sadly, the industry, till date, has not been able to determine whether they should accept me as an actor-writer or as a dwarf. They don’t consider me for normal character roles. Why can’t the father of a normal height man be a short person? Thankfully, new-age makers are experimenting with me.”

Lilliput says he doesn’t “roam around for work”. After working for four decades, if I have proven myself, then I should get work on merit.”

His “outspoken nature” may also have hampered his prospects, he feels: “Now, we rarely have directors who get involved in the selection process. Casting people do that job. It’s frustrating to be without work, as that’s the only thing an actor knows, but kya kar sakte hain.”

This year, he has been seen in projects such as Acting Ka Bhoot, To Be Not To Be and Bajao. “I recently wrapped a web series helmed by Saurabh Tiwari. Mirzapur 3 will probably come early next year. So, kaam chal raha hai.”

The writer of the TV show Dekh Bhai Dekh (1993) and the film Chamatkar (1992) is no longer writing. “I stopped writing after TV serials became daily soaps,” the actor ends.

The year 2002 saw the rise of Viva, one of India’s best known all-girl pop bands. Part of the group were Pratichee Mohapatra, Seema Ramchandani, Neha Bhasin, Mahua Kamat and Anushka Manchanda, who won the first season of one of the first reality shows in the country. However, after two albums, Viva disbanded.

Opening up on the split, Mohapatra shares, “There was a distinct indie pop scene then, which got lost when Bollywood music took over. Even radio channels didn’t support indie music. We were one among the last few to taste the indie wave. But there has always been a dearth of girl bands and that is why everyone remembers Viva.”

But the singer does wish that the band didn’t fall apart. She says, “I don’t regret it, but it would have been great if we continued. I’m still friends with all the members. We have a WhatsApp group — Viva Forever. Last year, we got together during the lockdown and put out a song called Jaago Zara. It was a little thanks to the fans who continue to love us.”

Quiz her about a live Viva reunion and she says, “Maybe a concert will happen someday. Who knows!”

After the group disbanded, things were tough, reveals Mohapatra. Though she successfully released a solo album, “it wasn’t very easy to sustain after a point”. And soon, she took to live performances. “Last year, my song, Sab Ho Jaane Do (Mirzapur 2) was a hit. But live gigs truly became my bread and butter. I modelled as well and was the face of a lifestyle brand,” says the singer, who lent her voice to songs in Dor (2006), Quick Gun Murugan (2009) and Angry Indian Goddesses (2015).

However, being diagnosed with cancer in 2011 put a brake to her musical career. “The recovery took some time. And just when I got my bearings, I got diagnosed again in 2019. Then the pandemic happened. All this derailed things, professionally, but I took everything in my stride,” says Mohapatra, who had a recent release Aao Yaara.

The single, which she penned and composed, was released under the music label of her sister, singer Sona Mohapatra, and music composer Ram Sampath.

Currently, she’s focused on writing, and shares, “I used to be shy about sharing my writing but Ram encouraged me to do it. And Sona makes sure that I share them on Instagram.”

(L-R) Neha Bhasin, Anushka Manchanda, Pratichee Mohapatra and Mahua Kamat

That his character as the antagonist in Mirzapur 2 was among the most despicable is only testimony of Divyenndu Sharma's prowess before the camera. A character arc that initially saw Munna Bhai as the aggressive heir to the throne of Mirzapur, and culminated with him emerging to be a sensitive husband gave him enough scope to showcase his acting skills. Sharma admits that despite calls to have his character—who was killed in the final episode of season 2—return in the forthcoming season, he has had his fill.

"I feel complete, as far as this character is concerned," says Sharma, one among the nominees in the Best Actor Series category at the upcoming Hitlist and Radio City OTT Awards. "I exited the series on a high. The one thing that any actor desires is for people to hope that his character returns. But after a point, there is noting new to offer. Munna had a great character arch, and I couldn't have asked for more."

Sharma admits that evoking empathy for a character as vengeful as the one he was portraying, was no mean feat. "It was amazing to see that viewers understood the character and were in sync with him. They were able to see the person that he was in the second season, and that is what I sought out to do. Munna, essentially, represents society. We need to understand why people are disturbed, or are on the wrong path. There is always a back-story," says Sharma, delighted that Mirzapur could hold viewers' attention despite competition from other Indian and International content.

Jaideep Ahlawat: Pataal Lok (Amazon Prime Video)

Jitendra Kumar: Panchayat (Amazon Prime Video)

Kay Kay Menon: Special Ops (Disney+Hotstar)

Pratik Gandhi: Scam 1992 (SonyLiv)

Sunny Kaushal: The Forgotten Army (Amazon Prime Video)

Priyanshu Painyuli had a great 2020, as the actor started the year portraying the role of Amir Asif in Extraction and ended it playing Robin in Mirzapur 2. Both the characters, according to him, redefined his journey and gave him recognition. He’s thankful to the web for churning out well-etched narratives that connect with the audience.

“Web is definitely providing us with a ground to experiment. The characters would have been different if they were in films. And the fact that both are web projects, it does help you reach a wider audience,” he says.

Looking forward to start the next season of Mirzapur hopefully in 2021, Painyuli adds that he knew about the “craziness” around the show, but experienced it firsthand only after being a part of it. “What Mirzapur 2 did for me is special. I haven’t got this much recognition so far from any other project. Robin and his ‘Yeh Bhi Theek hai’ dialogue have resonated with the audience. There are so many memes and jokes around it,” he says.

Painyuli, who made his web debut with Bang Baaja Baaraat in 2015, says nobody saw such upcoming web boom at that point of time.

“The show was experimental and did well. But there’s a catch. In a theatre, when someone buys a ticket, they usually sit through those two hours. But a web show need to keep the interest level high, or else the viewer would switch to some other show,” says Painyuli, who’s worried that the move around censorship of web content might affect the authenticity on the medium. “You can stick to authentic stories on the web while some demand certain things. I didn’t find anything wrong in the nudity in Game of Thrones or cuss words in Mirzapur 2 because those worlds are like that,” he notes.

He may not have had any film releases this year, but actor Ali Fazal had a great year nonetheless as he returned as Guddu Pandit in the second season of web series, Mirzapur. “I never expected this to become so huge. But at that time we were very few shows down in the world of OTT,” he says about exploring digital space.

Fazal admits that initially, he was dissuaded to take up projects on the web. “I remember a lot of people telling me to focus on movies. I used to tell them that my heart is in it and I would like to experiment with it and I think I can pull it off,” the 34-year-old adds.

The actor is grateful to have received so much appreciation for reprising the role because not many would have expected him to pull off this character. “I can understand, if I were a producer, I would think twice before casting Ali Fazal in this role because images play a huge part. Your last image is a big player in your next portrayal. But Mirzapur 2 and the Death On The Nile (upcoming international film) are very different from anything I’ve portrayed/been a part of,” he says.

Before the digital boom, there was a perception that actors opting for the medium weren’t getting films and Fazal had that fear himself.

“It is the social conditioning that we have. I was like will I get typecast? Will people think I don’t have films? But you have to understand that the world got bigger. Suddenly, we are competing at the same level as any other international show,” he says.

Fazal adds the audience gave him confidence that “at the end of the day, we are storytellers”. But he hopes things would pick up for cinemas as well because “we love the flavour of 70 mm”.

Work came to a halt due to the Coronavirus pandemic, dynamics of showbiz changed, but for actor Rasika Dugal 2020 was a prolific year. A lot of her work released on OTT platforms, and each got her noticed. But when you ask her to describe it, the actor says 2020 feels like a “year out of a dystopian novel”.

She explains, “It also reinstated my faith in humanity. I was very moved by how civil society rose to the occasion and there were timely and sensitive initiatives to help people who were hit worst by the pandemic.”

And because there was so much misery around, Dugal almost felt “guilty”, she confesses, and adds, “There were so many positive things happening for me on the work front when it wasn’t the case for many around me.”

The 32-year-old was amazed by how quickly people reinvented themselves during this phase.

“Before I knew it, I was dubbing for A Suitable Boy from home, promoting Lootcase online, and recording for an audio series. Then Mirzapur 2 and A Suitable Boy released on the same day. Two different genres on different platforms and two completely distinct roles for me. I felt thrilled about getting an opportunity to be two completely different people, Savita (from A Suitable Boy) and Beena Tripathi (from Mirzapur 2). And to receive how both were perceived by the audience,” shares the actor.

That was not all. Lootcase, her film with Kunal Kemmu, which was meant for a theatrical release, opted for a digital route and managed to become one of the most liked films of the year.

“With Lootcase and Banana Bread — a short film I co-created and shot entirely from home during the early days of lockdown — I felt happy that I could be part of bringing some cheer and light heartedness to people’s lives (and to my own) in gloomy times,” says Dugal.

Awards were aplenty, too. Her web show Delhi Crime won an International Emmy, and that naturally is a high point for her. She gushes, “I was honoured and grateful that Delhi Crime got the recognition that I felt it deserved. But beyond awards and accolades, Delhi Crime will always hold a special place in my heart because of the skill and sensitivity with which it tells a very important story. I will be eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Richie Mehta, Shefali Shah, Rajesh Tailang and the entire cast and crew.”

COOLIE NO 1 has set new records for Amazon Prime in India with its opening on the platform. It is the first big premiere for Prime as they have had big films before like BHARAT and WAR but these have come post a theatrical release while COOLIE NO 1 is the first big premiere.

The highest for the Amazon platform was a web series called MIRZAPUR 2 which released in 2020 but COOLIE NO 1 has surpassed this by a distance. This is expected as COOLIE NO 1 is fetching a 100 crore plus price for just its 130 odd minutes of content while the web series could be 300 or even 400 minutes of content for a fraction of the price.

This itself shows the huge difference in value of the two for the platform. So on one side you are smashing records but on the other side the competition is not much as far as the platform is concerned. If we look at it in box office terms then on one side is a film with 100 crore nett potential and the other is an also ran type.

The best comparison for COOLIE NO 1 would be against LAXMII but here its two different platforms with Disney+ Hotstar having a bigger base due to the IPL cricket. It is possible that COOLIE NO 1 may come out with a similar type of number to LAXMII as a holiday release can compensate somewhat for the lower base of the platform. It also depends on whether Amazon Prime had the same growth as Disney+ Hotstar in terms of subscription in the lockdown. LAXMII was released post the IPL and that would have pushed Disney+ Hotstar subscription to the highest level for the year.

The year has been a disaster but its ended on a slightly better note with COOLIE NO 1 scoring big on OTT and WONDER WOMAN 1984 putting up decent numbers in theatres. The numbers of Telugu film SOLO BRATHUKE SO BETTER are awaited and they are also expected to be positive.

Actor Anjum Sharma’s journey in showbiz involves exploring multiple opportunities both in front of and behind the camera. While acting happened much later in his career, Sharma initially assisted filmmaker Aanand L Rai and also handled the camera under the guidance of a veteran.

Now getting much praise for his portrayal of Sharad Shukla in Mirzapur season two, he says, “I’d get to know which character has more meat ever since I was a child and watched films. While growing up, I developed an interest in acting... I happened to watch some play once, starring Naseeruddin Shah (actor) and that’s when I started chasing acting as a career.”

Doing theatre came next, followed by assisting Rai on a film, during which he decided to take the plunge into acting and would do rehearsals for the main actors. As an outsider, Sharma says it hasn’t been easy. “It is hard, there are a lot of hardships. You need to prove your mettle, and that goes in any field. In this field, art is so subjective, that one person, for example, may like your painting, but six others might not,” he says.

But doesn’t someone with connections get such chances easily? Sharma agrees but adds, “There are plus and minuses. The counter point could be people who are getting contracts, meetings easily, they’ve more pressure and expectations. The audience sees them in a particular way. As a newbie, you don’t have that pressure, you can get accepted as your slate is clean... you don’t have any baggage.”

Talking of his latest shows’ success, the actor says, “We all knew magnitude of the show was huge…For me, the major part of my character was going to unfold in this after the post credits scene had in season one. All these things personally made me anxious.”

Mirzapur's Devdutt Dadda Tyagi is 3 feet 5 inches, and still intimidating. He makes you think, "I never want to be caught on the wrong side of this guy." The actor who breathed life into Tyagi, M M Faruqi, is loving it. "People are telling me, 'height gayi gaddhe mein; you really scared us'. I take that as a big compliment; it never happens with me in real life!" Faruqi, known by his screen name Lilliput, is taking a dig at his stature. Living with Achondroplasia, popularly known as drawrfism, has meant that the actor has had to make do with comic roles for much of his career. The last time he played an intimidating role was in 1998 on the television horror show, Woh. It's been a while since then that he has managed to make news. Season 2 of hit Amazon Prime show Mirzapur seems to have placed him in an unlikely spot, hitting the right notes with the audience.

Faruqi agrees that work has been scant. In 2012's, he did Luck Luck ki Baat, and in 2018, he appeared as himself in Kaamyaab. Later, came a small role in the TV show, Vidya. He has waited eight years to land a part that would get him noticed. A press report in 2017, in fact, quoted him saying that he was living off his daughter's earnings because no one was willing to give a chance to the film scripts he had worked on.

"This role, I've been waiting for all my life," he says of the part that the web series makers Gurmmeet Singh and Puneet Krishna, offered him. "They made sure they extracted a superb performance from me. And that viewers have liked Dadda, makes me very happy."

Survival in Bollywood hinges on networking, meeting the right people at social dos. And yet, he says, it's often that people "remember the person". "Someone will meet you one day, and the next day, tell someone else [about you], 'you know, I met Lilliput, and he's just so nice. He should get a role'. And then, finally one day, someone calls you." During this interview, he recalls meeting late actor Rishi Kapoor a few years ago. "He had the habit of spewing abuses while he spoke. He told me, 'why aren't you acting, working.' I listened to him for a while, and then said, 'I can't understand the grammar of the language this industry speaks'. I have never been able to get work easily, because I can't network. It's a misconception that if you are good, you get work. There are just too many people [vying for the same job], and only those who get seen a lot, get work."

Web series and OTT platforms, then, are obviously a godsend for character actors like him. It's the only space they can hope to experiment. "In the movies, everyone is tethered like cattle. Web series seem to have come as some sort of good luck for writers and actors craving freedom," he says.

To play Dadda Tyagi, Bihar's unlikely Bahubali, the soft-spoken actor says he didn't do much prep other than be determined to play the role as well as it was written. In fact, the first time it was offered to him, he turned it down. "I told them it's a role meant for the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, not me! But the makers insisted, and said, if anyone can do it, it was me. And then, suddenly I was Dadda, a man who used his insecurities to push himself up in life."

While the love has been pouring in from fans, Mirzapur 2's success hasn't brought him new offers. The man who knows the importance of patience, says, "Let's wait and see what God has in store."

Encouraged by the love showered on the second season, the makers of Mirzapur recently announced that the third instalment is in the works. This spells good news for Ali Fazal, who has been headlining the Amazon Prime Video series with Pankaj Tripathi. "All along, we had an inkling [that the story will be taken forward]," says the actor, adding that audience expectation has been rising with every edition. "Now, we have a bigger challenge — to outdo the last two seasons. I will get busy with other projects now, but we plan to shoot soon."

The recent instalment saw Fazal's Guddu team up with Shweta Tripathi Sharma's Golu, to kill Munna Tripathi, thus avenging the murder of his brother. The actor credits writers Puneet and Vineet Krishna for etching a well-rounded character in Guddu, making him valiant and vulnerable at the same time. "The show's writing and characters have been celebrated this time around. When I started playing the character, I knew his arc. For the first few episodes, Guddu is a broken man who has his eyes set on revenge. Over the 20 episodes, he has evolved from a careless young boy to a man with a motive. He has gone through grave emotional loss and turbulence, and yet, he has picked himself up and fought those who have wronged him. His sense of purpose after the family tragedy has struck a chord with the audience."

Such has been the impact of his brooding act that a section of netizens has described him as the web world's angry, young man. "I am asked in interviews if this is the 2020 version of the 'Angry Young Man'. I am humbled because that's quite a heavy term to live up to. Mr [Amitabh] Bachchan's persona is synonymous with the term. While none of us can come close to it, we can be sincere with our performances and give the term a new-age spin."

Popular Hindi fiction writer Surender Mohan Pathak is seeing red at the second season of Mirzapur. In the third episode of the Amazon Prime Video series, Kulbhushan Kharbanda's character is seen reading Pathak's novel, Dhabba, as the voiceover describes an erotic scene. Claiming that the content suggested in the voiceover is dramatically different from the original text of Dhabba, the veteran writer has described it as a violation of the Copyright Act and written to the production house Excel Entertainment, seeking the removal of the said scene.

"I am waiting for their response to my notice. If I don't hear from them within the stipulated period of one week, I'll file a case in Delhi High Court against the makers of Mirzapur 2," says Pathak.

Best known for his crime fiction series Vimal, the author, 80, says he was unaware of the development until his fans brought it to his notice. "When the complaints started pouring in, my daughter showed me the scene. The makers added their own filthy, disgusting [lines] as a voiceover and passed it off as the content of my novel, which was published 10 years ago. They used cheap porn to titillate the viewers, and to tarnish my image as a well-established mystery writer. In the voiceover, a character named Baldev Raj is mentioned; there is no such character in Dhabba. Many readers, who haven't read the novel, could get a wrong impression that the author, in his old age, has lost his mind and resorted to writing pornography to gain publicity. I consider it a conspiracy to defame me."

The novel features in another scene in the second episode, where Rasika Dugal's character takes charge of her life after suffering sexual abuse and battling suicidal thoughts. One might argue it's a powerful scene that establishes the importance of women characters in a largely male-driven plot.

When writing, Pathak counts depiction of sex and violence as off-limits. "I have written 270 mystery novels and thrillers in the past six decades, and they have gained immense popularity due to their gripping storyline and my distinctive style of writing. Never have I depicted violence and sex in graphic detail in any of my works," he asserts.

mid-day reached out to writer-creator Puneet Krishna, Excel Entertainment and Amazon Prime Video, who remained unavailable for comment.

Even as he is counting the days to the release of Kenneth Branagh's Death On The Nile, Ali Fazal has landed another Hollywood project. The actor has bagged the lead role in the war drama, tentatively titled Codename: Johnny Walker, which is written by Academy Award nominee and former writer of The Tonight Show, Alan Wenkus.

In a chat with GQ for its October 2020 issue, Fazal said that he is hoping to begin shooting for the movie in Los Angeles soon. "People [in the West] are now more open to writing parts that can have actors from across the canvas. It is hard to do because you have to get geography out of your head," he says.

October brings another big release for the actor — the second season of Mirzapur. He's full of praise for the way Gurmmeet Singh and Puneet Krishna have approached the project, but its outlandish popularity baffles him. Fazal confesses that he hasn't watched the upcoming edition in entirety. "I hate to see myself on screen," he exclaims, before adding that he hasn't been completely on board with the violence depicted in the series. He was shocked into action when a group of teenage boys tagged him on an Instagram post that saw them toting guns. "We never got to their parents, but were able to track them down and explain exactly what they did wrong. I get that it's art, and [we should let it] move us in whatever way it can. [Still] I've made some conscious choices with Guddu [his character] this time," says Fazal, stating that he won't curse on-screen in the upcoming edition.