In season 3 episode 7, the world closes in on Chhote as he can’t take his eyes away from Golu.
Akhil Arora, a member of the Film Critics Guild and a Rotten Tomatoes-certified film critic, who has watched all 10 episodes of Mirzapur season 3. He has been reviewing TV series since 2015 and has written for NDTV and SlashFilm.
After being on the sidelines for six episodes, the seventh episode of Mirzapur season 3—directed by Gurmmeet Singh and written by Avinash Singh and Vijay Narayan Verma—throws the spotlight on Vijay Varma’s Shatrughan “Chhote” Tyagi. His unrelenting focus on his former lover Golu (Shweta Tripathi Sharma), who he’s got tied up in a basement, is causing problems for himself. Sharad Shukla (Anjumm Shharma) figures out Chhote/Fake Badde must have Golu and severs their partnership. And with no progress made on the security breach, Chhote’s dad, Devdatt “Dadda” Tyagi (Liliput Faruqui), takes matters into his own hands. With the world closing in on him, Chhote seemingly makes a big choice—or does he? Mirzapur’s love for a cliffhanger obscures the truth.
Episode 7 begins with what is possibly its best scene between Golu and Chhote. It’s another rare moment in Mirzapur season 3 that takes its time and offers a character-first approach. (It’s also another one of those “too dark to see anything” scenes.) Golu wonders how long he’s planning to keep her here so she can give him a list of things she needs. Fake Badde says he will kill her eventually but not yet. As he hands her a cup of tea and a slice of bread, she tells him to get on with it. As Fake Badde grabs her to kiss her, Golu teases him. She says she used Chhote and that she likes someone who takes charge. As he moves his hand to her neck, she calls him Shatrughan, revealing that she knows.
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Chhote pulls back after a brief kiss in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7. Golu then tells it like it is—Chhote doesn’t have a plan, he can’t kill her, and all he wants is to be with her. There’s no value for Chhote Tyagi in Siwan and he should come with her to Mirzapur, Golu adds. He leans in and asks if she loves him. Golu does her best attempt at lying and says yes. Chhote isn’t buying it—in anger, he slaps her repeatedly. When Golu says he’s the one who’s living a lie, Chhote raises his gun at her. Golu spits blood and barks that he won’t get anything by killing her. It’s Dadda who he really needs to kill because Chhote can’t live his life like he wants until he does that. Chhote leaves, with episode 7 telling us that Golu is in the basement of the school where Badde’s daughter goes to study.
In Lucknow in episode 7, on a soundstage against a green screen backdrop, under the watchful eye of Chief Minister Madhuri Yadav (Isha Talwar), Zarina (Anangsha Biswas) is filming a dance-led promotional video for the party. Madhuri and her assistant Anand (Rohit Tiwari) exchange side-eye and feel it’s cringey. When Zarina sits down with Madhuri and asks her opinion, she says as much. Zarina disagrees and notes that the catchy beat will ensure that the CM will rule the public’s hearts and minds when the song echoes throughout the state day and night. Madhuri wonders what this has to do with J.P. Yadav. Zarina promises she’ll deliver and then drags the CM into the video, too.
While that’s happening in the background, Anand gets a call from Beena Tripathi (Rasika Dugal) in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7. She claims she’s stolen a phone to call him. Beena wants out and asks him to talk to the CM and help her. Of course, the whole stolen phone thing is a ruse. Seems Beena has tired of Guddu and is now playing both sides.
At the Shukla manor in episode 7, Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi) and Shakuntala Shukla (Meghna Malik) are playing cards. It seems Kaleen Bhaiya has developed near-sightedness for he can’t see the cards clearly. As Shakuntala hands him her glasses, Kaleen says he has asked Sharad to drop him off at Kashi, for his mind and body have both given up. (Kashi is another name for Varanasi, a city that’s considered holy by Hindus and where people go to die and attain salvation.) Shakuntala tells him to stop being a drama queen. Just then, she gets a call—it’s Beena again who repeats everything word for word from her previous call to Anand. Beena is a clever girl, isn’t she?
At a meeting of Sharad and his operations chief Chaddha (Danish Merchant) in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7, the latter reveals that business has been slow in Siwan. Fake Badde told Chaddha he’s been busy and the earlier stock he sent him has yet to be sold in full. Sharad feels something is up as there’s suspicion sketched across his face.
Over at Tyagi Automobiles in episode 7, Chhote’s chaat friend pays his respects to Dadda. Fake Badde barks at him, trying to keep up his appearance. But Dadda stops him and accepts the chaat gift. (For those who’ve never had it, chaat is a family of savoury snacks that are usually served as a hors d’oeuvre.) Clearly, the dad is still grieving his son. If only he knew he was grieving the wrong one.
Chhote then gets a call from his informant (Anubhav Dixit)—the one who helped him trap Golu—who reveals that a police officer from Uttar Pradesh has been asking questions at the UP–Bihar border. It’s Golu’s dad, Parshuram Gupta (Shahnawaz Pradhan), who has taken it upon himself to extend his daughter’s search in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7. He’s inquiring about Golu’s missing car. As the call ends, Chhote steps into the office, where he finds Dadda crying and having the chaat. We all grieve in different ways.
Somewhere in Ballia in episode 7, there’s a funeral for Rauf Lala. Shabnam (Shernavaz Jijina) sees that Guddu (Ali Fazal) is there, too. In a moment of weakness, she steps towards him, but her daughter Lippi (Kiara Sadh) stops her. Shabnam may have forgotten how Guddu behaved with her the last time, but Lippi certainly hasn’t.
Cut to a bar in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7 as Sharad goes to see Fake Badde. As Chhote has trouble opening a wine bottle, Sharad asks him where his mind has been. Sharad then jumps directly to the point: “How does it feel like to take revenge?” Chhote is taken aback—Sharad says he knows that Chhote is the one who took Golu off the board. He wants to know how he killed Golu: did you chop, burn, or beat her to death? Sharad says he’s happy that Fake Badde took revenge for Chhote’s death, but he’s weakened his position by lying to him. The temperature in the room changes.
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Chhote says he doesn’t like how Sharad’s talking to him. The deal was to kill Guddu and Golu—if Sharad can’t do it, he should step aside, Chhote adds in episode 7. He’ll go into Mirzapur and shoot Guddu down if required. Sharad says it would be tough to kill even a rabbit on the Mirzapur seat. It’s better to do it in neutral territory—that’s the advice he gave his father and the Tyagis because he considered them family. Sharad won’t stop him anymore and Chhote can do as he pleases. He puts an end to their friendly partnership. And since they are now professionals only, Sharad reminds Chhote that he owes the money for the alcohol consignment.
Back at the Shukla manor in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7, Kaleen Bhaiya tells Sharad that he’s handed the entire opium business to Guddu by killing Lala. Sharad thinks he’s weakened Guddu but Kaleen Bhaiya notes that Guddu must have established a direct line to the supplier. “You’ve lost the upper hand,” he adds and asks Sharad to call for a meeting in Jaunpur to propose peace. Sharad feels this is like going two steps back. Kaleen Bhaiya says that might be the impression everyone gets but that won’t happen. He asks Sharad to trust him—he’ll make him achieve “what has never happened in the history of Purvanchal.” Wait, isn’t Kaleen Bhaiya going back on his own plan?
Inside the house in episode 7, Sharad tells his mother that he thinks Kaleen Bhaiya is angry with him. Shakuntala says it might be fear, not anger. She tells her son that Beena called her and notes that no one will be safe once Tripathi’s family is safe.
At the weapons factory in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7, Guddu gets a call from Munnawar (Ayaz Khan) who informs him that Sharad has called for a meeting. Munnawar has asked all the gangsters to bring a gift that signals peace, which will reinforce his belief that unity can prevail in Purvanchal. Guddu agrees—it seems he’s planning to bring a prisoner as that gift. Or rather, a part of him.
At the meeting in Jaunpur in episode 7, everyone complains about how they’ve been suffering because of Jaunpur and Mirzapur’s feud. In a room in the back, Shakuntala and Kaleen Bhaiya are quietly listening in. The Tripathi patriarch is keeping tabs on who is siding with whom. Sharad proposes a boycott that will temporarily split the Purvanchal seat of power into two. Naturally, everyone in the room agrees, given the losses they’ve endured. Interestingly, Guddu accepts the proposal, too. For one, he won’t have to deal with all the rules, regulations, and meetings. He can do as he wishes. That includes dealing with Munnawar after the Dussehra truce expires.
Just as Guddu leaves in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7, he drops the gift that he brought. Shankuntala later opens it to discover that it’s the head of Sharad’s enforcer. This was so telegraphed—I could see it coming from the moment Guddu arrived clutching the gift.
In Siwan in episode 7, Dadda berates Chhote for falling behind on the business and not being able to find Golu. Chhote says he has asked everyone. Not everyone, Dadda says, before leading him to a darkened warehouse where he has three men tied up. One of them is the informant who helped Chhote lay his trap. When one of them protests, Dadda goes berserk and beats him to death. When the second asks for mercy, he kills him, too. Chhote steps in to save the third—his informant. He says he’ll get him to speak. Chhote leans in and says that he’ll take care of his family as long as he keeps quiet. Dadda gets up from his chair and is about to shoot him dead when Chhote intervenes. He says it’s no use taking the anger he has for him out on someone else. Dadda says if he weren’t the only son he had left, he would have killed him long back for his failures.
Back to the basement in Mirzapur season 3 episode 7, as Chhote pays a visit to Golu again. He tells her that she was wrong—he loves his family more than her and his family loves him, too. Golu corrects him, noting his family loves Badde, not Chhote. Dadda wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if he found out the truth. Chhote is annoyed at how Golu has wrecked his family. Golu tells him to move on, as she’s tired of listening to him repeat himself. She drills into him further, berating him on how he’s incapable of killing her. Chhote says he’ll dispose of her body in such a way that no one will be able to find her.
“And what does it matter? There is no one to cry over your body,” Chhote adds in episode 7. Golu says if Guddu were to find out Chhote killed her, that would be the end of him. (Golu, in fact, doesn’t complete the sentence. She just makes sounds that imply it would be really bad for him.) Chhote sees that Guddu has always been the one for Golu—she says as much to his face, to make it easier for him to kill her. Chhote is stuck in a dilemma. He wants her, she wants Guudu, and Guddu wants Purvanchal. “Now, no one will get anything,” he adds, as episode 7 ends with the sound of a gunshot. Is Golu dead? Or is it just a ruse?
Mirzapur season 3 episode 7 is out now on Prime Video.
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