Gangs of Wasseypur Review

Right from its long opening sequence where a gang relentlessly showers bullets and bombs at the haveli of their rival gang, with inhuman intentions to terminate everyone from woman, kids to elderly, Anurag Kashyup establishes the tone, temperament and texture of his gritty gang-war drama. In terms of its story, Gangs of Wasseypur seems like a basic revenge drama. But in terms of its screenplay, there is not a single scene in the film that might give you a been-there-seen-that feeling. It's avant-garde, offbeat and interesting narrative makes it an absolutely riveting experience.

Sardar Khan (Manoj Bajpayee) forms the core of the chronicle, whose only aim in life is to avenge the death of his father by the hands of the capitalist-turned-politician Ramadheer Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia). The film unveils as his biographical account encapsulating his marriage to Rajini (Richa Chhada), second marriage to Durga (Reema Sen), his rivalry with Qureshi (Pankaj Tripathi) and his butcher tribe and the induction of his son (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) in the gang-war.

With a brief introduction to Wasseypur and its ancient inhabitants, the narrative swiftly establishes its premise, protagonists and their conflicts. The backdrop of coal-mafia gives the film an original and deep-rooted setting. Starting from the pre-independence era, the narrative gradually moves to recent times with vengeance being passed on to generations. Piyush Mishra's voiceover does the major elucidation on the evolution of eras, though at times it's so rushed that if you miss a moment, you could lose a subplot. But then the film has so much and more to say that it has to adapt to a blitzkrieg storytelling technique.

The writing by Syed Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh Jaiswal, Sachin Ladia and Anurag Kashyap is expansive, elaborate, expressive and inventive. It explores diverse facets of Sardar Khan making his character and the narrative multidimensional. His revenge is brutal, his romance reeks of lust and he has an unapologetic approach towards both. Despite its grim theme, the film also has an inherent sense of humour that comes quite naturally to it from its series of events. The scene where Reema Sen is charmed by Manoj Bajpayee over her daily chores or the one where Nawazuddin goes on a formal date with Huma Qureshi are outrageously hilarious.

As the director, Anurag Kashyup has a distinct vision which augments the writing. The scenes are short in length, several in number and often a series of montages take the story forward. He never has to resort to extraneous elements like stylized entries, editing patterns or camera motions to add to the effect because the story has an intrinsic impact of its own. However that doesn't mean the film falls short of any technical finesse. There's unabashed blood, gore and abuse wherever the scene demands but none of it is forced for sensationalism. Also the film never ventures into the abstract zone that Kashyup's films are often attributed with. This one has mass-appeal without being a potboiler.