TOI Dialogues: Divyendu Sharma on his role as Munna Bhaiya in 'Mirzapur': 'I was lucky to get it'

Actor Divyendu Sharma is widely acclaimed for his role as Munna Bhaiya in the OTT series ‘Mirzapur’. The actor recently graced the stage of TOI Dialogues' discussion on 'Decoding the Growth Story of Kanpur'. In the chat, he talked about the breakthrough in his career with ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’ and ‘Mirzapur’.

Recalling his experience with his debut film, ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’, he emphasized the extensive preparation and workshops that preceded the shoot, drawing from his theatre studies in Delhi and acting training in Mumbai. Divyendu acknowledged the film's groundbreaking nature, as it featured three new male and female leads at a time when such films were rare. Although admitting that he felt 'scared and emotionally challenged' due to his loud character, he ultimately found fulfilment in the positive response from audiences.


While talking about how he landed the role of Munna Bhaiya in the ‘Mirzapur’ series, Divyendu narrated, "It started with a lot of prayers from my God. When I did ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’, I then did a film called ‘Chashme Baddoor’. After that, I was mostly doing ‘Happy’, ‘Go Lucky Guy’, ‘Boy Next Door’, and everything else. I had given a few years to theatre and the film institute. I had faith that I could do something else. I always wanted to experience that, and that was not happening. So I was very sad in between. There was a lot of work coming, but it was all the same work. I was not able to feel it. I was getting paid a lot, but I was not enjoying it. Now, that can be a problem for my mind. Because when you are new, you shouldn't think so much. A lot of people used to tell me that I was overthinking. But you can't do anything about it. When you have that thing in your mind, it talks to you, and you can't ignore it. So I was not in a very happy zone. Maybe that's a harsh way to put it. I wasn't able to do what I wanted to do as an actor, or as an artist. So there was a lot of frustration in my heart. Why am I not getting it? I can do other stuff as well. So I think I was so thrilled that God said, 'Okay, take it.' So that's how it started."

He further added how promising the script of ‘Mirzapur’ was during the narration. He added, “I met the makers, and they gave me the episodes to read. I read the first two and thought that this is very good writing. I am telling you genuinely. Not because everyone has seen ‘Mirzapur’, but genuinely, it was legitimate writing. So I thought this would be something. And Munna's character was very good. It was the most author-backed role, I would say. So I was lucky to get that. So it was such a long shot,” he added.

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