Gangs Of Wasseypur

Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Piyush Mishra, Shabana Azmi, Reema Sen, Huma Qureshi

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Producer/s: Anurag Kashyap, Sunil Bohra

Plot:

Part I
Towards the end of colonial India, Sahid Khan loots the British trains, impersonating the legendary Sultana Daku. Now outcast, Shahid becomes a worker at Ramadhir Singh’s colliery, only to spur a revenge battle that passes on to generations. At the turn of the decade, Shahid’s son, the philandering Sardar Khan vows to get his father’s honor back, becoming the most feared man of Wasseypur. Staying true to its real life influences, the film explores this revenge saga through the socio-political dynamic in erstwhile Bihar (North India), in the coal and scrap trade mafia of Wasseypur, through the imprudence of a place obsessed with mainstream ‘Bollywood’ cinema

Part II
Wasseypur is no more the town that was once consumed by the raging war between Sardar Khan and Ramadhir Singh. It has spawned a new generation of money squandering lobbyists, turning into foolhardy gangs overnight. With illegal profiteering through scrap trade auctions over the Internet, corrupt government officials, election rigging and hooliganism, the town got murkier. Everyone wanted alliance with the most powerful man of Wasseypur, Faizal Khan. His sole ambition however, is to annihilate Ramadhir Singh, the man with the grand scheme. Gangs of Wasseypur-Part 2 is a fitting conclusion to this story of vengeance, which by now, not just the family but also this town has come to inherit.

Gangs Of Wasseypur is a tale of vengeance, violence and greed that takes place in the hinterlands of India. Read the review for more.

Rating: 3/5 stars (Three stars)

Star cast: Jaideep Ahlawat, Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Reemma Sen, Richa Chadda, Huma Qureshi, Piyush Mishra.

What’s Good: The stellar casting and acting; Sneha Khanwalkar’s music; the direction; dialogues.

What’s Bad: The excessive violence; too many characters and a confusing plot; the length of the movie.

Verdict: Gangs Of Wasseypur is a good movie brought down because of the confusing plot and length.

Watch or Not?: Watch it if you have the time, and love those hinterland gangster/mafia movies.

In typical mind boggling Anurag Kashyap style, the movie begins with the opening sequence of the once-famous daily soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. With Bihar, and later Jharkhand, turning out to be a jackpot for coal, the mining mafia hold the area to ransom.

Under the guise of the infamous dacoit Sultana Daku, Shahid Khan (Jaideep Ahlawat) begins looting trains. Shahid gets exiled from the village when the furious Sultana finds out, and Shahid ends up holed up in a coal mine to earn his living. Shahid’s wife dies at childbirth and he is unable to see her in her last moments because of the cruel mafia that refuse to allow workers to leave the mine. While Shahid is later hired by the ruthless mine owner Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia), he also meets his end by his master.

Shahid’s friend Farhan (Piyush Mishra) takes Shahid’s son Sardar Khan (Manoj Bajpayee) to safety. Sardar swears to avenge his father’s death, and ends up returning to his home turf and challenges Ramadhir’s authority.

Though Sardar has a fiery wife Najma (Richa Chadda) on one side, he ends up falling for Durga (Reemma Sen). While he tries to give time to both wives, Ramadhir wants to put an end to his rein as well.

How Sardar’s sons Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and Danish Khan take over forms the rest of the story.

Gangs Of Wasseypur Review: Script Analysis

Akhilesh Jaiswal, Anurag Kashyap, Sachin Ladia and Syed Zeeshan Qadri’s script and screenplay isn’t anything short of epic (in proportion). The film does has many delightful moments like Najma’s painful-angry childbirth, Sardar’s attempts to woo Durga, Faizal’s entry into the trade, Mohsina’s (Huma Qureshi) romance with Faizal and many other parts have been very well written and executed.

However, the plot gets so convoluted and jumbled after a while, that along with Sardar, even you forget the track of vengeance. With so many characters being introduced, it becomes difficult to remember who’s who.

Gangs Of Wasseypur Review: Star Performances

There are two things that GoW gets spot on: the cast and music. Each and every character fits their bill perfectly. Manoj Bajpayee is perfect as Sardar: vengeful, angry, philandering and ruthless. Richa Chadda and Tigmanshu Dhulia are the pick of the lot as Najma and Ramadhir Singh respectively. Tigmanshu’s parts where he gets furious with his son’s stupidity are delightful every time.

Piyush Mishra performs excellently as the friend and mentor Farhan. Reemma Sen is delicious as the seductress Durga. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is fantastic as Faizal. Rest of the cast give very good support.

Gangs Of Wasseypur Review: Direction, Music & Technical Aspects

Anurag Kashyap has gone a little off track here. While the direction is good, the length of the movie makes it tiring. He seems to have got carried away with his little tributes to well known directors. Some sequences (like Danish’s wedding) just seem to stretch needlessly.

Sneha Khanwalkar’s music is top class (Keh Ke Lunga is the baap)! Piyush Mishra and G V Prakash’s contributions have helped a lot. Rajeev Ravi’s cinematography is very good. Wasiq Khan’s production design is excellent. Editing should have been much crisper.

Gangs Of Wasseypur Review: The Last Word

Gangs Of Wasseypur is a very good movie that gets bogged down by the endless characters and length of the movie. If you love those hinterland mafia movies, this is definitely for you.

Gangs Of Wasseypur Trailer

Gangs Of Wasseypur releases on 22 June 2012.