Gangs of Wasseypur
2012 Directed by Anurag Kashyap
Synopsis
Towards the end of colonial India, Shahid 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. In contemporary times, the weed addicted grandson, Faizal Khan, wakes up to this vengeance that his family has inherited. 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.
Popular reviews
More-
What a surprise Gangs of Wasseypur was. I was a bit skeptical going into the film considering how lame and overly melodramatic most modern Bollywood films are. The acting was the absolute best I have seen in a Bollywood film, so was the direction, the musical score, the editing and just about everything else, in other words it's just about the best Bollywood film I have ever seen. Gangs of Wasseypur is what you get when you mix The Godfather, Quentin Tarintino and City of God and chop them into one film, and the result is something to behold. Truly breathtaking.
-
The one-two charisma punch of Manoj Bajpai and Nawazuddin Siddiqui really anchored the film, kept it focused and held my attention. There could have been a little more character development among the females, especially Richa Chadda's matriarch, but overall, it was an engrossing story with plenty of entertaining gangster stuff. Don't let the 5 1/2 hour length be a deterrent to viewing, the time flies by.
-
Kashyap's fiercest work to date. Outstanding filmmaking.
Recent reviews
More-
pt I
-
Five hours of cinematic ecstasy..!
A MUST see indian movie of our time. -
Well I was waiting, like many others for the phenomenon called Gangs of Wasseypur. Expectations were obviously high and I was actually waiting with bated breath. The e-ticket queue was frustratingly long and finally, I entered the theater five minutes late; amidst the cacophony of gunshots. Thus started the epic saga, the incredible joyride on yet another Kashyap roller coaster.
The film starts with a peek into the second part of the movie, just that little bit of appetizer which makes you hungry for more. Kashyap made it clear from the very beginning that this was not a world we are used to. It’s a world where the fit survive, the guns talk and life is not so priceless. A…
-
Part I and II. Everyone is referencing this as an heir to THE GODFATHER but I see the pace and aggressive editing/pop music cues of THE DEPARTED, just expanded and prolonged over decades. What a furious masterpiece of genre extravagance, a history defined by the art (and bungling) of assassinations, marriages, funerals, chases, ceremonies, campaigns, friendships, love-making, and countless other rituals. It may be splattered with brutal violence, acts that initially seem like necessary evils. "I killed them so I could live." But all of the gore and dismemberment, the head shots and knife wounds, they are representative of an entire genre living inside its own head. The dream, the fantasy of being a gangster, has real life consequences (a…
-
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
-
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
-
Great epic about the lives of warring coal mining gangs based in India. A brilliant electro and classical hindi music fusion score.
-
What a surprise Gangs of Wasseypur was. I was a bit skeptical going into the film considering how lame and overly melodramatic most modern Bollywood films are. The acting was the absolute best I have seen in a Bollywood film, so was the direction, the musical score, the editing and just about everything else, in other words it's just about the best Bollywood film I have ever seen. Gangs of Wasseypur is what you get when you mix The Godfather, Quentin Tarintino and City of God and chop them into one film, and the result is something to behold. Truly breathtaking.
-
5* for Pt1, 4* for Pt2 so evening the scores up.
Sprawling, generation spanning Indian crime drama that although almost 6 hours in length, never drags and you almost want to spend longer with these people. Although music plays a huge role in this, there's no song and dance routines that you may expect from Bollywood - this is just a fantastic Gangster film. Surprisingly funny too, there's some killer lines and moments in this.
Highly recommended.