Divyenndu on Munna Bhaiya Perks and OTT Story Shift

Mumbai: Divyenndu Sharma has spent years being recognised as Munna Tripathi, the volatile gangster he played in Mirzapur. At India Today Conclave Mumbai 2026, he told the audience that the role has not only shaped his career – it has occasionally rearranged his real world.

The same conclave stage also put the spotlight on how technology is reshaping entertainment. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai and Whistling Woods president Meghana Ghai Puri discussed AI and OTT altering the rules of filmmaking – a fitting backdrop to Divyenndu’s own streaming story.

A barricade moment in Lucknow

During the session “The Iconic Villain of Mirzapur, Everyone Loved,” Divyenndu recalled an incident during the CAA protests in Lucknow. Security personnel recognised him as Munna Bhaiya and let his car pass through a barricade.

It is a small but telling example of how deeply the character has travelled. It also explains how the actor has learned to handle overenthusiastic fans with patience, because the line between the actor and the gangster often blurs in public.

OTT’s longer arc for Indian stories

Divyenndu credited streaming platforms with widening the lane for Indian storytelling. The shift, he argued, has pushed creators beyond formula-bound cinema and made room for:

• Authentic characters who feel local and specific
• Real stories that do not depend on a star-driven template
• Fresh voices finding audiences across regions

For an actor, that atmosphere gave a character like Munna Tripathi the space to become a breakout. It also allowed the show to build a fan base that considers the actor and the role almost inseparable.

Streaming’s reality check

Divyenndu was equally clear that streaming is not a shortcut to acceptance. Audiences, he said, are discerning and do not automatically embrace everything released online. A platform can place a title in front of viewers, but it cannot make them stay.

That is the wider lesson for the OTT era: distribution is easier, but attention is harder to hold. A recognisable face may open a barricade in Lucknow, yet every new story still has to earn its audience scene by scene.

Why this matters for fans

For Hindi film and streaming fans, the conversation is a reminder that OTT has become a creative pressure valve. The characters who break through are often the lived-in, messy ones who would have been squeezed to the edges in a tightly templated film. Divyenndu’s Munna Bhaiya remains a talking point because audiences remember him, not just the show’s plot.

Source: India Today