Mirzapur's Robin aka Priyanshu Painyuli on exiting the series, 'People don't want my character to go'

Actor and model Priyanshu Painyuli, who was seen in the hit series Mirzapur, is happy for the love his character Robin has been receiving, especially after the third season.

His character Robin was shown to have been killed in a fit of rage by Guddu Bhaiya (played by Ali Fazal). The actor, in a freewheeling chat with MoneyControl, said his friends, family, and diehard fans of Mirzapur didn't want the actor to bid adieu to the hit show.

Priyanshu began his career as an assistant director and a model. He later made his debut as an actor with Manuja Tyagi's Love at First Sight.

He was next seen in Farhan Akhtar's Rock On 2. In 2018, he played the lead role in Vikramaditya Motwane's Bhavesh Joshi Superhero.

But it was his role of Robin, aka Radhesyam, in the action crime thriller series, Mirzapur 2 and 3, that gave him popularity. He is both loved and hated for his role of Robin.

Excerpts from the interview: 

Fans don't want Robin's character to go away from Mirzapur

I think this time it is very sad because, you know, I'm exiting the show. But I knew that this would be one of those events or the highlight of the show that, you know, Robin dying. And, but it is very touching that the audience is reacting in a way that they don't want to accept it. They were not even expecting this thing. But after that happened, the closest of my friends, or generally, you know, people on my DM, sent me, and they've told me they thought it shouldn't have happened. Like, they still can't believe it, and they don't want to accept it. Although they said, let's change it somehow, which feels wonderful in the sense of connected to the character. They're so emotionally attached to the character. That is a win for any actor—that when people start loving your character so much, they don't want the character to go away.

Also Read: Mirzapur Season 3 Review: A gritty, gory, explosive third season starts shaky but soon finds its ground

Overwhelming to see the audience's love 

Of course, by the larger format in the story, it was required by the filmmaker. Guru (Mirzapur 3 directors Gurmeet Singh and Anand Iyer) wanted to do this, the scriptwriters. All of them felt that this was necessary for the script of the world of Mirzapur—what they wanted to show this time. And, of course, as an actor, I never argue about why or what we are doing. My job is to make my character loved by the audience, even if I'm playing a negative role. But here, Robin was a character that everybody fell in love with. And then suddenly, he went away. Yeah. It's it's beautiful. Yeah. It's very overwhelming to see how people are so closely attached to him that now they don't want to let go.

Was in doubt about how the character's journey ended in Mirzapur

I knew that, the way we were shooting the scene also, and I remember me discussing it with Guru a couple of times if you really wanted it this way. Do you want it this gruesome, or can it be some other way or some other form of death? So I don't know. There was something in his head, and he said, I think, to it is also from a very accidental point of view that, you know, to show it that Guddu (Ali Fazal) went into such heights of harming him, but accidentally, this happened so gruesomely. And that's also that mad kind, which you want to show how Guddu's character, in the influence of drugs and everything, commits such a crime. So, I think it's done. It was a very scary scene of the season.

Also Read: Mirzapur 3 actress Rasika Dugal on playing Beena Tripathi: She wears her sexuality on her sleeves, I look forward to playing Beena

The death scene of Robin still hits me

The actors are so good with each other: Ali, Sheeba, and Harshita. Even though we know we shot it and we also watched it, still it hits us very hard. And I think that's the wonder of the art when everybody is putting the heart and soul into making a scene well. That are for the whole show and for every character and everything. It's not just actors or the director, but I'm talking of the makeup team as well; they have created that on the animatrix prosthetic. The body, which is later there, you know, is where the eyes pop, which is the first time in any series. We have an animatrix prosthetic. Exactly like my face. So that's what we exactly did. So everything in combination when people have put in 100% on you—that is when a powerful scene comes out. And as I said, even when we watch it, we have, you know, a heavy heart after watching it. And I knew this scene would hit hard on everybody because it's very unexpected.

Fans thought Robin would turn blind

We knew this was going to be a heavy scene, and I was waiting for the audience's reaction, my friends reaction. But, some of them there have been some really funny ones also the reaction of one of my friends, like Shweta's (Golu) husband, Cheetah,  who's a rapper and actor, Chetanya. He told me that till the last moment, he thought that in the next season, I'd be a blind Robin. I said that was a great idea. I should have told Guru that, and he could have at least saved me; he made me blind.

Fans want Robin back

But a lot of people are commenting on my Instagram. A lot of people said, You know, your table agar lakdi ki jagah steel ka hota toh humare Robin bhaiya bach gaye hote. That's lovely. Yeah. And people, being as I said, they were not even there. I think one of the beautiful ones was somebody wrote ek hi family man tha Mirzapur me wo bhi nikal diya aapne. Right? Because actually, Robin and Dimple are the only ones who are not fighting for the throne of Mirzapur; they just want a good life.

Will miss being on Mirzapur sets 

Being on a Mirzapur set is, like, a very tight family group. Nobody would leave the set even if their scene is done. They won't; they would be on time. They would do more and more. We've not got any complaints, you know; even if a 12-hour shift is done, people are there to to one more scene unless, of course, we get tired or unwell. Like Ali, some of these guys, I know them from theater days; we've done some plays together. So there was friendship there. Though we meet after ages sometime, we have seen each other's journey somewhere. I would probably have to mature enough to, you know, get into the audition stage. We're having things here in India, internationally, all everything. It's beautiful to see and the growth.

Mirzapur 3 received mixed response when it premiered in July this year. The show features Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Rasika Dugal, Vijay Verma, Shweta Tripathi in pivotal roles.

Talking about Priyanshu, he featured in movies like ‘High Jack’ and ‘Once Again’ in 2018. In 2019, he essayed the role of Kapil in the Netflix film ‘Upstarts’, showcasing his ability to adapt to a wide range of characters.

The year 2020 proved to be a significant turning point in Priyanshu’s career. He played the role of a Bangladeshi crime lord in Sam Hargrave's directorial debut, ‘Extraction’. Additionally, he shared the screen with Taapsee Pannu in the sports film ‘Rashmi Rocket’, adding yet another successful film to his repertoire.

Priyanshu took on the role of Sitaram Bisht in the web series ‘Charlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang Valley’, proving that he can seamlessly transition between the big and small screens.

His role of Major Ram Mehta in Pippa with Ishan Khatter garnered him a lot of praise.