An extraordinary ride through spectacular, over-the-top filmmaking
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadda, Tigmanshu Dhulia
Rating: 4 / 5
Through Gangs of Wasseypur 2, Anurag Kashyap says one thing out loud to Bollywood, “Keh Ke Loonga.” As classy as a Hollywood gangster film, sleek and fast, the second installment of this gang-bang, wife cries, husband dies, stunningly superb finale, you have to give it to Kashyap – he has managed to keep up the innovative slangs till the very end.
Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is also all about the music. “Yaad teri aayegi,” spurts laughter and the insanely bona fide lyrics of "Hajimula" only make the sub-plots stronger. With over 25 soundtracks, unique ringtones for every hero and villain in the film, the music definitely steals the show. Sneha Khanwalkar and G.V. Prakash Kumar definitely deserve 'a pat on the back' for their unique style and approach to the music.
The revenge drama, ruthless vengeance and principal characterizations in Gangs of Wasseypur 2 make it an unbeatable plot. Coupled with brilliant cinematography by Rajeev Ravi, and fast-paced editing, Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is easier to comprehend, smoother and better created than its first installment.
The reason why Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is such an outstanding film is because every performance is top-notch.
The introduction of novel characters like, “Tangent and Perpendicular” adds uncanny humour to the script. Kashyap brings to the screen a powerful character and stunning performance by Zeishan Quadri playing the legendary Definite Khan”.
With Gangs of Wasseypur: Part One, being highly praised for its story, Part Two was eagerly awaited to be scrutinized in plot and standards of Manoj Bajpai’s flawless acting as Sardar Khan.
Gangs of Wasseypur 2, does not, remotely, disappoint.
For those who haven’t watched GOW 1, Gangs of Wasseypur 2, is incomprehendable.
For those who have, the prequel, ended with the death of Sardar Khan (Manoj Bajpayee), leaving his sons to avenge his death.
Shot beautifully, Gangs of Wasseypur 2 opens with the sequences of Sardar Khan’s death unfolding from a different camera point of view – a noir film trait synonymous with Kashyap’s brilliance.
While Faizal (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is engulfed in the smoke of ganja, it’s up to Danish (Vineet Singh) to demand blood. But Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia) and Sultan (Pankaj Tripathi) get back by gunning down Danish in cold blood.
Richa Chadda playing the infamous Nagma Khatoon, has aged by over 30 years in poise and wisdom. Her voice and gait have matured, her poise boiling with revenge, forcing her son to avenge her husband and son’s death.
Taunting with slangs like ‘Babbua’ Richa Chadda impresses audiences with her song and eyes in the Haldi Rassam scene. But emotions are a quick fix in Gangs of Wasseypur 2 with the Kaala song ejecting laughter down your spine and Faizal kissing his mother and calling her ‘Budhiya’.
Finally, Faizal shakes out of his slumber and ruthlessly takes back control of Wasseypur.
“Humko laga Sanjeev Kumar ke ghar main Amitabh Bachchan paida hoga, lekin tum toh Shashi Kapoor nikle,” initiates Faizal’s takes on Bollywood through eventual hits on Rajnikath and Dev Anand.
Head slaughtering, butchering, castrating and ganja, make Faizal Khan fierce.
Gangs of Wasseypur 2, through the life of Faizal Khan, portrays how Wasseypur in Dhanbad, is no longer plagued by the wars of coal, it has moved on from a battle of fish, to iron, to goods. It showcases how everybody with a katta and home-made bombs, can be a Sultan and a Sardar.
It shows how coal has immaculately dawned the stature of syndicated auctioning centers.
But our hero, Faizal, doesn’t forget his Bollywood-loving darling Mohsina (Huma Qureshi).
Huma is gorgeous in a realistic way. She is not thin, she is not intelligent and she is not against doing the wrong. She is ruggishly sexy, bold and outspoken. But you cannot compare her to Nagma played by Richa, who is the epitome of abusive and the stark of loudness.
The story tappers in the middle, with a slow timeline in the 2000s and an increase in the number of guns! Tired of the bloodshed and never-ending revenge, Ramadhir offers a hand of truce to Faizal.
Faizal keeps Wasseypur and Ramadhir doesn’t kill any more of his family.
By now, everyone wants a piece of the success story, including Faizal’s half-brother Definite (Zeishan Quadri) and Shamshad (Raj Kumar Yadav).
Zeishan’s brilliance is portrayed through a sequence of ‘destruction of vote banks’ – his dialogue delivery peppered with a fast pace, sharp cuts and a long visually narrative sequence definitely makes this the best part of the film. But when Sultan gets a hit on Faizal’s menace-of-a-brother Perpendicular, he doesn’t let go of the chance. The bloody revenge saga unfurls like a man on an ego-trip for the next one hour.
The finale, with Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s impeccable expressions, Kashyap’s picturesque depiction of bloodshed and an inimitable soundtrack – Gangs of Wasseypur sticks in your head long after you’ve watched it.
The 2-part breakthrough film by Kashyap may not barge the box office. It definitely won’t be loved across audiences, but GOW stands for what Bollywood lacks – a realistic, rugged depiction of a plot so strong at its core, and so callously sarcastic that it destroys all cliché norms of Hindi Cinema, creating an original extravaganza.
No, it is unfair to compare Gangs of Wassseypur with The Godfather – Bollywood hasn’t got there yet! With GOW’s action sequences, music and dialogues – Kashyap claims that the film is along the lines of a Quentin Tarantino film – and he sure goes out there and proves himself right.
Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is like nothing you have seen before. It’s timeline unimpeachable, coming back to where it all began, 65 years down the line. It reveals a family history, all the way through 4 generations with Piyush Mishra playing Farhan chacha.
Ending in 2012, Mumbai, what began in Wasseypur Bihar and spread all over Jharkhand, Gangs of Wasseypur’s script alternates engagingly between scenes of sometimes stomach-churning violence and moments of domestic comedy, made more tasty by hard-boiled dialogues.
With excellent performances, a screenplay that's strung together beautifully by writers Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh, Sachin Ladia and Anurag Kashyap - a revenge story that touches a dramatic crescendo and music that plays out perfectly in sync with tragic twists of tale.
Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is an interesting watch, for the brave-hearted. Like the first part, the movie slows down at times with abundant pistols, hordes of characters and complicated sub-plots. The film is revenge on a platter - served cold- hearted and definitely worth a second helping in its full, spread across 5 hours.
If in GOW 1, the violence hit you like a volcano, then in Gangs of Wasseypur 2 the gaalis get upgraded with every sequence and blood flows more easily than water in Mumbai's municipal taps. And if all this leaves you giddy, Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is not your scene – you need a thick skin for this one.