Gangs of Wasseypur – 1 & 2: Blood Throttle Saga!

Menacing. A rendezvous with the devils of Wasseypur could only produce venom that bakes vengeance. And Kashyap minces no skin as flesh and barbarians in the name of preposterous empire rule a frail yet gawd-ish Wasseypur in Jharkand.

Inspired by true events, Anurag’s GoW has class written all over it. It begins where it ends as the plot converges itself on a rare plateau that speaks a language of it’s own. Shahid Khan’s nemesis and debutante Tigmanshu Dhulia as the verenable Ramadheep Singh sways a web of deceit that runs the soul of Wasseypur. Shahid Khan falls short of his anarchy as Ramadheep eliminates him but escapes the fact that his son would weed the veins of a barbarian revolution.

Sardar returns with an intent of a tiger and soon puts Wasseypur in a shred of wimp that Ramadheep would never mend with his hazel. Thus begins a war that has an end but no means. Sardar rises as Ramadheep gets a ticket in to the house of parliament and becomes the patriarch of Wasseypur. His son doesn’t belong to his mettle of manned arms and evolves behind the shadows of a Sultan. Even though Ramadheep wanes away from Sultan but doesn’t keep him out of his treacherous mandates. But an infuriated Sultan murders Sardar as his younger sibling falls for Danish Khan, Sardar’s eldest. Just when Waaseypur felt enough of bloody baits, it wakes up to an emergence of a gory legacy.

Sardar’s execution paves way for plethora of dynasties that poke belligerent guns and gloom. Danish is shot and after a series of juggler antics around Perpendicular, Tangent and Definite (Sardar’s son from the fetish Durga), Sultan brutally pins Perpendicular. While Sultan still goes around on a savage bout, Faizal Khan gorges and broods and fumes to avenge the murders of his father and brothers. Faizal isn’t as sharp as his dad neither does he have the flinch of his brother. Yet, comes out of his addictive self to wheel of the remains of a fallen empire. With raw guts and balls to pound hearts, Faizal’s rampage gives Ramadheep goosebumps. He wanes, and his vulnerable instincts merges with Sultan’s blood wrenching desires. Faizal finally dismantles Sultan as he loses the final string of life, his mother. Definite becomes Faizal’s aid as Ramadheep sows his seeds of poison in Durga and he becomes an inevitable end to Faizal’s inexplicable taunts. Though, not before Faizal bathes in Ramadheep’s blood soaked organs and Indian Cinema has rarely witnessed such degree of vengeance in human psychotics.

Oops, I forgot to mention that GoW has dollops of romance in this blood soaked vendetta. Sardar with his two damsels and later, Faizal’s marauding yet blatant lines packs pleasure in an uncanny fashion. Dialogues are ‘chew & chomp’ genre and Kashyap is fantastic here. Screenplay, one of the finest I have come across in a long long time and for a butcher plot, it’s perfect. GV Prakash’s background score is stupendous and Kashyap’s stamp is evident. Songs are straight from the UP- Jharkand backwaters and folk oozes with lyrics of a vanquished motherland.

Do I need to mention performances? I owe it for my sake. Manoj Bajpai as Sardar Khan was paradoxically brilliant. But the greatest surprise and find of GoW is Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Faizal Khan never looked to be a heir to the pervasive Sardar Khan but he becomes more. Wasseypur, for a while, lives with a God who looks meek and has bottles of glory squashed over the reins of his gunned family. Not sure if another ‘Bhiku Mathre’ has bestowed upon us, but for me, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has arrived in style. Tigmanshu Dhulia as Ramadheep Singh is courageously awesome and too much an ask for him to term this as a debut affair. But his performance hasn’t surprised me as his credentials overweigh his exploits as Ramadheep.

An out and out Anurag Kashyap epic, it’s a knock out punch to an era that’s basking in versatility. 20 years down the lane, and GoW will go down in history as a cult film. Bravo!