Thursday, 16 August 2012

Gangs of Wasseypur - Review


Gangs of wasseypur, directed by Anurag Kashyap has once again made an exceptional benchmark in the movie industry. Beginning with a melodramatic and saccharine-packed title song of "kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi", i was bewitched with the stark changes that follow within the movie. Very niftily, the movie commences with a scene singled out from an intermediate point in the movie and then retraces back to 1940 citing the start of at least three generations of family feud that takes toll on everyone involved in the family, neighborhood and community.

The director has purely focused on a simple fact and created a prodigious five-hour movie that does not fail to glue the viewers. The movie is a sumptuous treat for all gangster movie-lovers with lewd language, gruesome killings and breath-taking surprises. But it is not all about blood, revenge and foul mouth and to this end, the story beautifully narrates the concept that “Aadmi do tarah ke hote hai ek kamine aur dusre bewakoof” and by adding a dash of “bewakoofi” to each of the kamina character in the movie, the concept does not fail to provoke laughter in the audience.

So astounding is the casting that it feels like every character from the movie was grown on every actor. Although Manoj Bajpai and Nawazuddin Siddiqui dominate most of the film with their screen presence and extraordinary performance, one can not help but notice the perfection in the fine acting from Richa Chadda. Be it when she runs with a stick, behind her cheating husband Manoj Bajpai or when she would not accept a son Nawazuddin Siddiqui who cannot avenge the death of her husband, son and father-in-law; she makes everyone else on screen a blur.

The Film includes 25 songs sandwiched in five hours of pure drama, but not a single song feels out of place. Every song blends in perfectly with the story and relates to the narrative. The mix of styles with old and new songs makes every song a listening pleasure and each one strikes a distinct chord. The sound effects play a crucial role in this gangster action movie but never overwhelm the plot and thus makes it easy for the audience to stick with the plot and narrative.

It seems to me that it is pure evil that one has to see this movie in two parts and not as a complete movie. But I will definitely say that Anurag Kashyap makes one more jewel of a movie with Gangs of Wasseypur for his viewers.