Aniruddha Guha reviews 'Gangs of Wasseypur 2' ­– Craft over content

Gangs of Wasseypur 2 (GoW2) is where it all ends – the bloody saga reaches its culmination, with vengeance finally finding its way in. The tenacity of director Anurag Kashyap and team has to be lauded – both parts of Gangs of Wasseypur are mounted lavishly, the canvas massive and the intent ambitious. In moments that allow you to sit back and mull over the film’s finer points – and there are a few such moments in GoW2 where you can afford to switch off from what’s happening on screen, sadly – awe for Kashyap’s control over craft outweighs the joy attained from watching a truly satiating film.

Unfortunately, Gangs of Wasseypur – 1 and 2 together – falls slightly short of a truly satisfying experience.  There’s so much to take back – mood, flavour, character, attitude – yet it leaves you slightly vexed, and wanting more. Not more in terms of duration, but in content. Given the investment it demands – 2 hours and 40 minutes of your time, twice over, and loads of patience – the takeaway is just not as rewarding. It was so in the first one because it was incomplete, and it is so in the second because it stutters on its way to a stunning finale.

Unlike part 1, which took its time to set up, GoW2 gets on with it right away. The patriarch, Sardar Khan, has been brutally murdered and the family wants revenge. The hot-headed older brother (Vineet Singh, impressive in a short role), much like his father, sets on a bloodbath but is eliminated quickly. The family’s now looking up to the second brother, the chillum-smoking, meek-in-appearance, clueless Faizal.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays Faizal with masterful efficiency, his performance jaw-droppingly real. His transformation from the harmless offspring to menacing ganglord is without fault, his eyes portraying the angst of a young, brooding guy at first and the assuredness of a veteran warrior later. Some of the film’s best scenes are the ones starring Nawazuddin and co-star Huma Qureshi.

 

In one such memorable scene, Faizal proposes marriage to Mohsina (Qureshi) by listing out all his vices, and then asks her if she has any of her own. She leans in, about to whisper something in his ear when the scene cuts to them getting married. Qureshi is effervescent and charming, making her presence felt even in scenes that require her to step back as Nawazuddin takes centrestage. Faizal’s style of operation – he gets one of his father’s killers’ head shaved off before finishing him – and rise to power make for GoW2’s most gripping scenes.

 

However, like in part 1, needless subplots play spoilsport, not just slackening pace but taking away from the bite of the film’s central story. Barring Faizal’s step brother Definit (played well by Zeishan Quadri, also one of the writers of the film), most of the characters introduced (Perpendicular, Shamshad, Iglaq) add no real heft to the narrative. The idea is to mirror the massive transformation of Wasseypur in the last decade, where a number of gangsters operate as opposed to a handful in earlier times, but too many unnecessary scenes hamper the storytelling.   

 

The first film’s length wasn’t so much a problem as all of it was leading to something – Kashyap may have been over-indulgent while establishing plot in Part 1, but that was an aberrance in a film that had plenty else to offer. You expect Part 2 to be a lot more on the ball. There isn’t the added baggage of making the audience familiar with the milieu this time; all that’s required is to tell a gripping story. But GoW2, like its predecessor, stuns you with individual set pieces – like the one where Faizal Khan’s house is under attack and the gorgeous finale – but needs you to sit through a lot else that isn’t quite as enjoyable.

 

It’s hard to pick between part 1 and 2 – the first is the better film, the second gives you a sense of completion. I enjoyed GoW2 more for two reasons. I got to see the story end finally. And Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

 

PS: The best way to enjoy Gangs of Wasseypur is to watch both parts together – it’s the only way you get a real idea of the film’s ambition. But the task is daunting, with both parts clocking at over five hours together, and too much excess diluting the experience. A four hour long cut, with both stories merged together and the flab cut out is how I would have liked my trip to Wasseypur, ideally.