Gurmmeet Singh on How Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don’ and Salim-Javed Films Shaped His Approach to ‘Mirzapur: The Movie’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Gurmmeet Singh, who has directed “Mirzapur: The Movie,” previously worked as an assistant director with Farhan Akhtar, including during the making of Shah Rukh Khan’s “Don.” Speaking exclusively to Variety India, Singh recalls how working with Akhtar on the sets of the first movie from the “Don” franchise taught him the importance of preparation and having a clear vision of what he was shooting.

“I'm sure I would have (taken back aspects of filmmaking from “Don”) because I was assisting Farhan (Akhtar) at that time. One thing that you take away from Farhan is his prep,” Singh says.

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At the time, films were still being shot on film, which required filmmakers to be more responsible about what they were capturing on camera and how it would eventually come together in the edit. Singh says that approach has stayed with him, even while working on a longer format like “Mirzapur.” He explains, “To have the discipline of knowing what you are shooting and what you are going to edit is important. Farhan had it during ‘Don.’ He was not just free flowing or thinking, ‘We’ll see what happens later.’”

That discipline, Singh explains, is something he believes came from Akhtar’s background as an editor. He explains how he followed the same while making “Mirzapur: The Movie,” with the team being clear about where and how scenes would eventually be cut. He quips, “Pankaj (Tripathi) must have also seen that we try to keep the discipline, even on the longer format. We are very sure how and where we want to cut. That has come from Farhan because he started his career off as an editor. I did the same.”

Singh also acknowledges the influence of the films he grew up watching, particularly the work of Salim-Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar). While “Mirzapur” has gangster-like elements that may remind audiences of other gangster films such as “Don” and the screenwriting duo’s body of work, Singh says these similarities are not necessarily the result of a conscious attempt to recreate them. He further adds, “Whether it's ‘Don’ or the legacy that Javed sir had… we have seen so many of Salim-Javed sir's films, you'll find a lot of that in ‘Mirzapur’ - the beats, the characters, their wants and their desires.”

Rather than deliberately drawing from those films, Singh believes some of those influences naturally find their way into the storytelling. He adds, “There will be many instances (in future Mirzapur projects) where we're actually tipping our hats to them without realising it.”