Mirzapur: The Movie becomes first Bollywood album to adopt Universal Music India’s ‘Hear It First’ model; details inside
From the dusty lanes of Mirzapur to the big screen, one of India’s most iconic streaming franchises is gearing up for its biggest chapter yet. After three acclaimed seasons and a fandom that has turned characters such as Kaleen Bhaiya, Guddu Pandit and Munna Bhaiya into pop-culture icons, the franchise is making its first-ever leap to cinemas with Mirzapur: The Movie.
Now, ahead of its theatrical release, Mirzapur: The Movie is breaking new ground with its music as well.
Today, the complete soundtrack of Mirzapur: The Movie was launched under Excel Music, Excel Entertainment’s recently announced music label, as a part of Universal Music India’s ‘Hear it first’ initiative. Under this initiative, new releases will be available to Premium subscribers across music streaming services in India for an initial period, after which they will be available to all fans across ad-supported tiers.
This makes Mirzapur: The Movie the first-ever Bollywood film album to do so.
Vishal Ramchandani, CEO, Excel Entertainment shares, “Building a stronger paid music ecosystem is important for the long-term growth of the Indian music industry. ‘Hear It First’ gives fans another reason to subscribe while creating greater value for artists, labels and the entire ecosystem. As we build Excel Music, we want to be at the forefront of initiatives that help grow and strengthen the industry, and we’re excited that Mirzapur: The Movie is the first Bollywood album to take this step.”
Universal Music India’s ‘Hear It First’ initiative is designed to give paying music subscribers meaningful early access to major new releases, while recognising and strengthening the growing premium music ecosystem in India.
With Mirzapur: The Movie becoming the first Bollywood film album to adopt the model, it signals an important evolution in film-music release strategy — creating an exclusive early-access moment for subscribers before opening the music to the wider listening audience. It’s a significant inflection point in the way Hindi film music is accessed and consumed within the Indian eco-system, and Excel Movies is leading this change.
Produced by Excel Entertainment and set to release in cinemas on 4 September 2026, Mirzapur: The Movie brings together the franchise’s beloved iconic characters and fan favourites, including Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Rasika Dugal, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Abhishek Banerjee, while also expanding the world of Mirzapur with new additions to the cast like the popular Jitendra Kumar (Jeetu Bhaiya as he is known in the digital world) and the toast of the season – the livewire Ravi Kishan.
As the world of Mirzapur prepares to make its biggest leap yet — from streaming phenomenon to a theatrical experience — its music release strategy is also making news for the right reasons.
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