If ever a list is made of the BEST Bollywood films ever made, it will include the likes of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Sholay, Mughal-e-Azam, Pyaasa, Lagaan, 3 Idiots…but one unconventional entry to the list would be the ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. The two-part epic saga from 2012, set in a small village in Jharkhand (also my home state) spanning across three generations, took the whole world by storm with its unique and raw storytelling. In this Blog, I will explore what makes the Anurag Kashyap directorial such a unique entertainer and a cult classic for generations.

The backdrop of the Movie

Firstly, one thing should be very clear to the readers. Gangs of Wasseypur is one complete movie of 312 minutes (5 hour, 12 minutes). It was shown across film festivals in this very form. The only reason for the movie to be divided into two parts was that no Indian theatre would have presented an over five hour film.

The movie, which revolves from the British era till the 1990s, is centred around conflicts, gang wars, and politics surrounding coal mines, power, and money. The main players in the battle are the Pathaans (Khan family), the Qureshis and one strongman, Ramadhir Singh. Actually, it’s Wasseypur itself, which is the main protagonist of the story.

The region, located in Bengal during the British Raj, was redistricted into Bihar post-independence in 1956 and finally came under Jharkhand after the state’s formation in 2000.

Zeishan Quadri, who himself belongs to that region, comes to Anurag Kashyap with the idea of this movie. Anurag likes it, but asks Zeishan to bring ‘every’ of the story of Wasseypur, for the movie to be made properly. Eventually, after much research followed by intense writing, the movie script came into form. Interestingly, after editing, Anurag showed the movie to his friend and another famous filmmaker, Vikramaditya Motwane. He suggested many changes, but Anurag wasn’t keen. So, eventually, they agreed on a middle path, and what we see involves the editing brain of two epic filmmakers (also the makers of Sacred Games).

Manoj Bajpayee as Sardar Khan, in one of his career-best and funniest performances (Photo: Bollywood Hungama)

Premise of the Movie

During the colonial rule, the coal mines of Dhanbad were a rich source of resource extraction for the British. The huge benefits lured the entry of ‘Sultana Daaku’ (Qureshis) whose gang used to rob British trains carrying coal. So, the movie’s power struggle starts from this point, with Shahid Khan (Jaideep Ahlawat) working in the coal mine, who was killed by Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia), who even tries to finish his whole family, but his son survives, in a twist that was going to change the fate of Wasseypur.

Here, after independence, all the coal mines came under the control of the government, but Ramadhir using his might, regains the control through trade unions. Later, he enters politics to further bolster his might and repute. Shahid’s son, upon knowing about his past, names himself ‘Sardar Khan’ (Manoj Bajpayee), gets bald and makes it his life’s mission that he won’t grow his hair, till he avenges his father’s death. Returning to Wasseypur, Sardar creates havoc shaking up the whole empire run by Ramadhir.

On the personal front, Sardar marries Nagma Khatoon (Richa Chadha) and has two children with her — Danish (Vineet Singh) and Faizal (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). But, Sardar being a pervert, routinely visits brothels. After getting out of jail (for assaulting Ramadhir’s son publicly), Sardar and Asgar go underground, during which he marries again, this time a Bengali Hindu woman named Durga (Reema Sen). He has a child from her also, named ‘Definite’ (yes because he was definite with his life’s aim). And, the rivalry between the two wives was also no less and actually goes on to shape the future course of action.

After Sardar Khan is killed by a conspiracy, in an extremely dark, violent but dramatic scene (it was followed by the ‘Jiya Ho Bihar Ke Lala’ song), followed by the murder of his elder son Danish by Sultan Qureshi (Pankaj Tripathi), Faizal is the only one, who remains from the Pathaan clan. Here, the movie is a perfect ‘desi’ Indian twist of the epic ‘Godfather’ franchise.

Being a drug addict and having little to no interest and experience in this gangster business, everyone is doubtful whether Faizal can actually take over the reins. But, proving everyone wrong, Faizal turns out to be the most explosive gangster in the family. With several high-profile killings, Faizal makes his mark in this dark world, instilling the right amount of fear with clear ‘don’t mess with me’ messaging in everyone.

Now, the story was not to end on such a simple note. Faizal’s stepbrother, (Durga’s son) Definite joins him, and the two start working together. The other twist comes, as their past will put them on opposite pedestals. Faizal, Ramadhir, Definite, and Sultan, remain the main players. They forge alliances and carry out conspiracies, and in the end, only one person remains alive in the batter of Wasseypur, the region continues to live on with its violent legacy of battlefield for gangsters and their struggle for power.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and debutant Huma Qureshi in one of the funniest sequences of Indian cinema (Photo: India.com) 

 

Presenting Finest Actors

Now, one thing, anyone can say without any hesitation, is that Gangs of Wasseypur presents the BEST ensemble cast in the history of Indian cinema, purely in terms of acting prowess. I mean, could you imagine casting Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Piyush Mishra, Richa Chadha, Jaideep Ahlawat, Pankaj Tripathi and Rajkumar Rao, at a time, when perhaps, none (barring 2-3), were big names in the industry, and coming up with a rampage like this. This was Anurag Kashyap, and the masterclass casting by his team, especially Mukesh Chhabra.

Interestingly, Manoj Bajpayee was perhaps the first character, confirmed for the movie. And he was so excited for the role, that he himself coined the name of ‘Sardar Khan’ for his character. Initially, Richa Chadha was cast for Durga’s role, but later the team started finding it impossible to find any actor for Nagma’s role, for the sheer reason, the character had to evolve into a mother, and young actresses weren’t willing for such a risky thing. It was then that Kashyap requested Richa Chadha to play that role, and she readily agreed.

Another interesting story is regarding the role of Ramadhir Singh. Piyush Mishra was dying to play that role, but Kashyap was firm on casting him as Nasir (also the character who narrates throughout the movie). The story needed Ramadhir to be a really strong character, and after much deliberation, Mukesh Chhabra came up with the name of Tigmanshu Dhulia, a director who had never acted in a movie. This was another gamble that was spot on. Now, just for a reference, Ramadhir Singh and Gabbar Singh – two iconic villains (the latter is way too big) – were played by two debutants, who went on to redefine unconventional filmmaking.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, an actor who was working in movies for over a decade, but had little recognition in the mainstream. Kashyap had his eyes on him for much long (had even cast him for a small but effective role in Black Friday) and was very clear that Faizal Khan is a tailor-made role for Nawaz. And as it turned out, it became a career-changing launchpad for him. Another character for whom the movie was a huge turning point was Pankaj Tripathi (who had even noticed him in Dabbang 2 and Singham 2?). So, another credit the movie deserves credit for is making careers of so many talented and gem of actors.

Making of the Movie

The movie has been made on a small budget with limited resources and support. Interestingly, Kashyap even forgo his fees to keep the movie within their ‘affordable’ limit.

The locations in the movie, a prime reason why they look so authentic, is because almost everything has been shot on live location. From coal fields to butcher shops, everything has been curated in real locations in a completely efficient manner to suit the movie’s premise.

Some of the locations are from Uttar Pradesh too, which resembles the actual locations of Wasseypur. Anurag Kashyap said that was the best way for them to shoot the desired scenes, as creating something similar here in Wasseypur, would have cost much more.

But, despite all this, the noteworthy fact remains that the combined box office of the two parts was not even 50 crore (in India) and actually, the second part couldn’t even get a proper run, as just in a week, Salman Khan’s epic ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ took over all the screens. The legacy of the movie, however, was going to be defined as something much bigger than a box office collection.

Tigmanshu Dhulia, who acted in movie for first time, delivered an epic and memorable performance (Photo: India.com)

Raw and Authentic Storytelling

As I suggested above, the movie is set around live and real locations bringing authentic flavour to the storytelling. But, an even stronger aspect is the real and raw action blocks of the movie. For example, to avoid using any visual effects, the action was real-time. Remember Manoj Bajpayee killing the studded gangster all by himself. The actor had small pouches of red colour inside his shirt and since Bajpayee was using the fake knife (of course), the gangster himself had to pinch the pouches using a sharp nailed object in his finger. Now, despite how Herculean the task seems, the team pulled it off, without letting any of us realise…I mean just wow!

Another interesting scene is where Faizal beheads Fazlu. The audience sees the scene from the backside of the two actors sitting on the wall of terrace, whereas on the other side, while Faizal is enacting the scene of beheading Fazlu, the latter gets down with the help of crew and Faizal holds a dummy head. All this in the dark night, just seems as if Faizal has beheaded him and is holding his head for real.

If you notice, many sequences in the movie are set in a running market, including some intense chase sequences. Remember the famous and funny chase scene Between Definite and Shamshad (Rajkumar Rao). That scene was not even there in the script (yes you read it right!). When Definite goes to kill Shamshad at his house, there is confusion among the crew about whether the gun is loaded or not. Rajkumar Rao, thinking the gun is loaded gets panicked like hell (as is evident in the scene) and starts running, after which Definite too goes after him. Kashyap, who was left bursting with laughter, decided to bring a chase sequence to capitalise on this great set-up.

Similarly, all other bombing scenes are almost real. The over 10-minute long sequence where the Sultan and his men come to kill down the whole Pathaan clan (with ‘Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ in the background). While filming that scene, several grenades were hurled inside a real building, which wasn’t in use. Similar was the case when Sardar carried out a massive riot against the Qureshis, as the team had carried out many explosions.

Anurag Kashyap from the sets of Gangs of Wasseypur (Photo: Mint)

Deeply Crafted Characters

In sports, we say, ‘A captain is as good as his team’. Similarly, in movies, it goes ‘A movie is as good as its characters’. (I am the creator of this line).

Gangs of Wasseypur has a huge collection of all these extremely well-crafted characters. From Sardar to Nagma, and from Faizal to Ramadhir, every character has a well-defined arc and meaning. Even characters with small roles like Perpendicular and Shahid Khan, leave their unique and personal imprint on the whole movie.

For instance, Richa Chadha said that after Gangs of Wasseypur, she was only getting offered the role of mother, as that’s how deep that character’s impact was.

Similarly, Pankaj Tripathi’s character Sultan Qureshi was inspired by a real butcher from Prayagraj (where all butcher scenes were shot), who actually slaughtered 60 buffaloes a day. The small boy killing one buffalo all by himself was also inspired by real life.

But, the most interesting character as the director Anurag Kashyap also believes, is that of Ramadhir Singh. In Kashyap’s own words, “Ramadhir Singh’s IQ is bigger than the whole Pathaan clan combined”. And it’s also evident, it takes whole three generations of Pathaans (all dead) to kill one Ramadhir Singh, as he is always two steps ahead, knowing when to go defensive, and when to take the attacking route when to negotiate and with whom to forge alliance to sustain and then kill down the enemy.

There is one more interesting trivia. The sequence where Ramadhir Singh abducts a local girl has been received with much criticism. Kashyap and Quadri, during their recce, half of the residents said Ramadhir had kidnapped the girl, while the other half said Sardar Khan had kidnapped the girl. But, since they were making the film with Sardar’s lead, they decided to go with the first version. However, there is a group that still alleges that it was a ‘cover-up’ to hide the religion of those behind the abduction.

The whole team of Gangs of Wasseypur at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 (Photo: Dawn)

Classic and Unique Music

Now, coming to the banger music of the film. The movie has over a dozen songs, with each one an iconic masterpiece in itself. The main characteristic of the songs is their rooted or ‘desi’ nature. Secondly, even though there are so many songs, each one of them has its own meaning, relevance and uniqueness (no two songs are similar). Perhaps, this is the reason, these songs are so famous and common, despite over a decade of the film’s lyrics.

Sneha Khanwalkar, the music director of the film, was tasked to create some really grounded and unique songs for the movie. And for undertaking this task carried out over a period of one year, she really went to ground level ‘scouting’, if that’s the appropriate word. From bringing ‘Rinkiya Ke Papa’ fame Manoj Tiwari to sing the banger ‘Jiya Ho Bihar Ke Lala’, Chhath song icon late Sharda Sinha for ‘Taar Bijli Se Patle’. Khanwalkar even travelled to Trinidad to bring the flavour of Chutney music (fusion of Carribean and Bihari music) as is evident in several songs of the movie. And the less we talk about Piyush Mishra’s iconic ‘Ik Bagal Mein Chand’, the better. The song literally presents you with the true meaning of life.

The other person who deserves massive credit here is Varun Grover, the legendary artist who wrote the lyrics for these songs, aptly fitting into the storytelling. I mean each and every song; it’s not just some music playing around, but there is a carefully crafted lyrics, which is telling a story in itself.

The Legacy of Gangs of Wasseypur

The acclaim this movie has brought to Indian cinema can’t be described in words. The stature of this film can be understood by one simple fact, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ was the only Indian film in the list of Guardian’s ‘Top 100 Movies of All Time’ (at 59th position). Not just this, the legendary Martin Scorsese, one of the biggest inspirations in Anurag Kashyap’s life, himself sent a letter of appreciation to him, lauding the film for its cinematic brilliance.

Gangs of Wasseypur, irrespective of how much gangster drama we have running on our phones, this unconventional and raw storytelling with this task was a make-or-break risky project for the team, and the fact it was pulled off with such perfection speaks volumes. It established that there exists a significant audience for this unique form of storytelling, and paved the platform, for more such risky and unconventional filmmaking in the country. Thereare these and many more reasons, why this movie is cherished till now, and will be till Indian cinema is alive. And what bigger legacy can a movie leave, if almost every other scene and dialogue of it, turns out to be a meme, with which almost the whole country relates to.

And, out of all the epic dialogues in Gangs of Wasseypur, there is one, that Anurag Kashyap says, was put only because he wanted it to (others were ofcourse brought according to the premise). So, I would like to end the blog on that very dialogue:

“Jab take is desh mein Caneema (cinema) hai, tab tak log ch***** bante rahenge”