Thursday,21th June 11:00 PM IST
“Gangs Of Wasseypur” Is Raw Real Gritty Yet Entertaining Piece Of Art
Pluses:
Manoj Bajpayee shows his class with such an intense performance, Nawazuddin is sensational, Tigmanshu Dhulia is not bad either in his debut as an actor, 2nd half is high voltage dramatic masterpiece, dialogues are impactful and screenplay is taut, songs lifts the mood, climax leaves you wanting for more
Minuses:
At times too much music/background score just work as hindrance, cinematography is inconsistent, Richa Chaddha overacts and Reema Sen carries straight face throughout
Critic Rating:
4/5
Business Rating:
3/5
Verdict:
Watch it for UP - Bihari medley version of Sholay and Godfather
Detail Analysis:
“Gangs Of Wasseypur” has arrived with huge expectations build up around it due to humongous marketing in Cannes Film Festival. In addition to that, director Anurag Kashyap’s name evoke huge excitement among elite intellectual audience and film critics.
To start with, film has right balance of action, thrill, songs, cuss words and sleaze. But director should be applauded for knitting all this in a very natural manner that too in 160 minute long film. And mind you, this is just half of the saga as rest will unfold in 2nd part. In the end, one can also see extended trailer of sequel and that certainly teases you as audience left insatiate wanting for more.
Film is a revenge saga of Sardar Khan (Manoj Bajpayee) and he forms the core of the plot, whose only ambition 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 themajor elucidation on the evolution of eras, though at times it's so rushed that if you miss a moment, you could lose a subplot.
Writingby SyedZeishan Quadri, Akhilesh Jaiswal, Sachin Ladia and Anurag Kashyap is expansive, elaborate, expressive and inventive. Screenplay is so tight even in such a long narrative that you can’t afford to overlook effort of writers. Look out for the shot when Nawazuddin goes for a date or when in the climax Manoj start the onslaught– one is hilarious and other is astounding.
Music by Sneha Khanwalkar adds to the proceedings and at times even lit up the mood. But here lies the problem as music and background score also get irritating at times especially at the end of the 1st half.
In terms of performance, this is no doubt the best performance of Manoj Bajpayee and no way second to his memorable act of Bhiku Mahtre from “Satya”. He just carries the film on his shoulders and delivers a strong powerhouse punch in almost every scene. He is bound to steal every award next year for his exceptional act. When he is not speaking, all the emotions from desperation to anger can be seen going through his mind. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is first rate and after “Kahaani”, once again he shows how accomplished actor he is. His subtle performance and body language just make you clap for him every time he is on screen. He is find of the year for sure and here to stay for long inning in Bollywood. Tigmanshu Dhulia makes a decent debut and good in parts but he looks stiff in majority of scenes. But then there are few disappointments in acting department from female cast. Huma Qureshi, Richa Chaddha and Reema Sen look out of the sync and it seems that they are trying their best but without any success for authenticity of performances.
In the end kudos to director Anurag Kasyap to make a film which is not only authentic to the settings, a film which is devoid of unnecessary trappings of stylish editing and irritating choreographed fights, a film where everything comes out from the script and not from commercial considerations and above all a film where though Anurag does try to mix Tarantino with desi storytelling but he never loses his grip from the narrative. This is not atypical potboiler but still an entertaining action saga and might work at box office big time.
Go and visit Wasseypur as you are ought to be pleasantly surprised with this hard hitting, real, raw but entertaining and mind you pieceof art!