Pandit / Principles
The key character in third season of Mirzapur is not Guddu, Golu, Kaleen Bhaiyya, Sharad or anyone else. It is Ramakant Pandit
Spoiler alert: Don’t read if you’ve not completed Mirzapur Season 3
I love interesting characters who grow and evolve in TV shows. The arc of a character is probably as important as the twists and turns in the story.
If the reader has watched Mirzapur, he/she would have an idea about the inner nature of each and every character.
You can put Mirzapur’s characters in several buckets.
Some are manipulative, while others are impulsive. Few are caring, while majority are mute spectators. But almost all of them are power hungry.
Character arcs of most of the players in the TV Show Mirzapur don’t change in Season 3. The only exception to this trend is Ramakant Pandit.
The man finally admits that his allegiance (or addiction) to usool or principles is futile and accepts the brutal fact that everyone acts on the basis of self-interest.
Ramakant Pandit
Ramakant Pandit is the father of a two famous goons of Mirzapur (Guddu and Bablu) . He is indifferent to the priorities of his children and decides to live his honest life and ignore the chaos created by his children.
His indifference and lack of control over his sons leads to several deaths in the family. He is quite helpless. However, none of this changes his hold over his precious ‘usool’ (principles).
In spite of all the tragedy and bloodshed, Ramakant wants to be a principled human being. This guy is literally addicted to principles even when he is dealing with a fundamentally opportunistic world.
Ramakant Pandit is so straightforward that he collects evidence against his own son and hands it over to the police force. He offers to go through punishment for killing a police office who tried to kill his son in a fake encounter.
Senseless Addiction to Principles
His senseless addiction to principles is infectious in Mirzapur Season 3. The man works for justice even in the jail. He helps many falsely imprisoned inmates to file their bail petitions.
Ramakant protects a new inmate from getting beaten up. He evokes respect even from a savage inmate. At the same time he ignores his wife’s and children’s needs. He justifies his indifference in the name of principles.
He agrees to argue his own case (and save his skin) only after excessive persuasion by his wife. Of course, one can understand his passion for principles. But he is delusional in a universe where opportunism is the norm.
The Poet and His Priorities
It takes a poet to break Ramakant’s addiction to usool (principles). A fairly innocent guy brutally kills an important businessman in the show in exchange for a better future for his family. This shocks everyone.
Ramakant goes to speak to this murderer. He asks why he chose to commit a crime when he had potential to do something with his life. The poet says that his priorities are above the society’s or any other person’s opinions.
The poet says that he got a deal and he took it. And he asks Ramakant to fuck off and stick his principles up his ass. Not literally but metaphorically. I am exaggerating the words but in real terms this is the psychological impact on Ramakant.
Inability to Love
After Golu’s death, a broken Guddu comes to speak to his father. He asks him how he finds the strength to bear so much difficulty.
Surprisingly, Ramakant lets go his addiction to principles. Ramakant finally realises that his obsession with “usool” is futile. He admits that the only principle that one should subscribe to is “self-interest”.
He regrets that he could not learn how to love or teach his son the value of love. This sounds like a passing remark, but it is a very significant one.
By the end of the scene he asks Guddu to do whatever he sees fit and drops the habit of making value judgements.
Self-Love and Craziness
I think love, in appropriate doses, can save people from going to extremes. Maybe if each of these characters accepted themselves, they would not seek refuge in principles or violence.
Ramakant would not have judged others for being “dishonest” if he was able to love himself and his flaws. Guddu would not do crazy things to become ‘King of Mirzapur’ if he loved himself as a normal citizen, albeit a powerless one.
After finishing Mirzapur Season 3, I am more convinced in the idea that the absence of self-love drives people crazy and pushes them into a chaotic vortex.