Actor Pankaj Tripathi reprises his role as Kaleen Bhaiyaa in Mirzapur Season 2. The returning season of the Amazon Prime Video show is set to drop on October 23. Sharing his excitement for the series, Pankaj says the action thriller has offered a menacing villain without falling prey to the tropes of the Hindi film baddies of the 80s and 90s like Shakaal and Mogambo.

“Earlier, the idea of villains was limited; they were over-the-top in their tonality. With Mirzapur, Gurgaon, and Sacred Games, I have explored the dark side of the human psyche in depth,” says the actor, who will be seen turning the battleground fatal against Ali Fazal in the upcoming edition.

Praising the new generation of writers for creating such nuanced characters, Pankaj adds, "They are writing negative characters that do more than have an ominous laugh. There are strong backstories that define why the man is a certain way. Kaleen Bhaiyya doesn't look outright villainous because you are familiar with the many facets of the man. He is a 2.0 version of Mogambo, Shakaal and Gabbar of yesteryear."

Besides Pankaj, Mirzapur Season 2 will mark the return of Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Rasika Dugal Harshita Shekhar Gaur, Amit Sial, Anjum Sharma, Sheeba Chaddha, Manu Rishi Chadha and Rajesh Tailang.

They will be joined by Vijay Varma, Priyanshu Painyuli and Isha Talwar in the cast.