[1] The story follows Akhandanand “Kaleen” Tripathi, a crime boss and businessman who is the proverbial ruler of Mirzapur district in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh state in India.
The series was filmed mostly across Uttar Pradesh, primarily shot in Mirzapur, and other locations including Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Lucknow, Raebareli, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi.
An incident at a wedding procession forces him to cross paths with Ramakant Pandit, an upstanding lawyer, and his sons Guddu and Bablu.
He also uses Valmiki's gun to shoot dead the other guest, Bhojpuri film star Suttan Jha, to further create problems for the administration; Madhuri Yadav faces public backlash and IG Dubey grapples with the consequences of the failed operation.
IG Dubey storms the baithak with the police killing all the dons, while Akhandanand, following Madhuri's plan, shoots Munnawar.
A 30-second teaser released in October 2018 consists largely of shots from a factory in Mirzapur where guns are manufactured in the garb of carpets, and Kaleen Bhayya is behind this illegal business.
[24] Divyendu Sharma, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey appears in other principal roles alongside Shweta Tripathi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rasika Dugal, Harshita Gaur and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
[21] He eventually conceived that the characters Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Bablu (Vikrant Massey) were inspired two real boys who rode a bike and went around terrorising the town.
[21] In an interview published on an online portal in February 2020, Vikrant Massey revealed that the makers of the series had kept him in dark about his character's demise, till the day of the shoot.
[21] The primary locations for the shooting of the series included Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Lucknow, Raebareli, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi.
The show makers have taken aerial shots of the Ganga river in Uttar Pradesh, and Another important location for the series was the Badohi district.
[30] Anand Bhaskar planned to compose a wedding song for Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Sweety (Shriya Pilagonkar) which is touted to be a Sufi number.
[41][42] It was also screened at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour held in Los Angeles in February 2019,[43] where the makers officially announced the second season of the series, along with seven original contents from India.
[53] In December 2021, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a criminal complaint filed against the makers of the series for allegedly defaming the city of Mirzapur and for portraying a Brahmin (the protagonist Tripathi family) community in a bad light; the court cited freedom of speech and no intent of malice as its reasons for dismissing the complaint.
Rohan Naahar of the Hindustan Times, gave two out of five and stated "Mirzapur doesn't aim high, and yet it fails to hit its target.
"[55] Ektaa Malik of The Indian Express claimed that "The nine-part series, with almost hour-long episodes, is a tedious watch, and even its top-notch cast can't save this mammoth show from sinking.
"[56] Saraswati Datar from The News Minute reviewed "A brilliant cast of actors led by Pankaj Tripathi is let down by an inconsistent script and indulgent direction.
"[57] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave two out of five two the series, and stated "Barring a couple of sequences in the first two episodes, Mirzapur never finds a way out of the drably pedestrian.
"[58] Stutee Ghosh from The Quint gave two-and-a-half out of five stars and stated "Mirzapur runs out of steam early on and never truly recovers, but it does have one saving grace.
"[60] Rahul Desai of Film Companion rated it three-out-of-five stars and stated "Featuring some of Hindi cinema's most talented actors, it's no surprise that the performances paper over awkward cracks in the narrative balance.
"[61] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV, gave two-and-a-half out of five stars and stated "One key difference between the two seasons is in the pacing of the narrative.
"[62] Udita Jhunjhunwala from Firstpost reviewed the series, giving three out of five stars and stated "Season 2 ends with what we have come to expect when a game of thrones is afoot – some will die, some will live, and the show will go on.
"[63] Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India rated the series three-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote "Mirzapur 2 has that 'killer' combination of power and politics that largely works, but is not bulletproof to flaws.
"[64] Jyothi Sharma Bawa of Hindustan Times reviewed "For a show that revels in throwing references at you, here is one that Mirzapur 2 offers us right in the beginning – a scorpion with a sting in its tale.
"[65] Rohit Vats of News18 gave two-and-a-half to the series stating "In Mirzapur 2, Ali Fazal and Pankaj Tripathi are unflinchingly staring at each other amid a barrage of bullets with a commitment to make all this look bizarrely satisfying.
Like a Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that stretches on unto eternity, a time-bound story revolving around revenge for fresh wounds is threatening to evolve into a saga that will persist for a few more seasons.
"[67] Mughda Kapoor of Daily News and Analysis, rated three-and-a-half out of five to the show stating "Living up to the expectations of delivering an action-packed, fierce, and intense season, Mirzapur 2 surely makes for a great watch.
"[68] In contrast, Ektaa Malik from The Indian Express gave two out of five stars and stated "Mirzapur 2 doesn't yet fall into the category of 'its soo bad that its good,’ nor does it fit into the 'guilty pleasure' slot.
[74] Sugandha Rawal of Hindustan Times also provided a critical review, where she said that the show has a "weak storyline, too many main characters & predictable highpoints".