Gangs of Wasseypur Part II (Review)

Gangs of Wasseypur Part II

aka Gangs of वासेपुर II
Gangs of Wasseypur
2012
Written by Akhilesh Jaiswal, Anurag Kashyap, Sachin K. Ladia, Rutvik Oza, and Zeishan Quadri
Directed by Anurag Kashyap

Gangs of Wasseypur
Gangs of Wasseypur continues with Part II, thanks to the split the 320 minute film experience just so theaters would take a chance and play it. Part I was an amazing experience, and Part II almost lives up, creating a uniquely awesome long story. It took five writers – Akhilesh Jaiswal, Anurag Kashyap, Sachin K. Ladia, Rutvik Oza, and Zeishan Quadri – to bring Gangs of Wasseypur to life. Anurag Kashyap directs this ambitious project, which is one of many quality and critically successful films. Black Friday(2004), Dev D(2009), and That Girl in Yellow Boots(2011) are among his other well-known works.

When last we left our warring families, Sardar Khan has just gotten Sonny Corleoned (or was it Sonny Corle-OWNED!) and his son Danish Khan is now the defacto leader of the family, and he vows to kill the men who gunned down his father. Sultan Qureshi realizes Danish is trouble and kills him, and the Khan family now is lead by the marijuana smoking Faizal Khan, who neither seeked out nor wanted the leadership role. No one thinks that he can handle being a ruthless leader, but he proves them wrong by beheading a longtime friend who betrayed the location of his father to the assassins.
Gangs of Wasseypur
Faizal now leads the Khans as time continues and other sons of Sardar make waves. Sardar’s fourth son Perpendicular is a maniacal spoiled child who keeps a razor blade in his mouth and spends his time robbing local stores, who let him because he’s Sardar Khan’s son. His actions start to get out of control, and Faizal begins spending more time cleaning up his messes than he would like.
Gangs of Wasseypur
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Gangs of Wasseypur Part I (Review)

Gangs of Wasseypur Part I

aka Gangs of वासेपुर
Gangs of Wasseypur
2012
Written by Akhilesh Jaiswal, Anurag Kashyap, Sachin K. Ladia, Rutvik Oza, and Zeishan Quadri
Directed by Anurag Kashyap

Gangs of Wasseypur
Gangs of Wasseypur is an epic tale of the rise of the mafia in the Wasseypur region and tells of generations of families in conflict. The massive story originally was a single 319 minute film, but has been split into two parts for release, as few theaters would risk a 5+ hour film. The sweeping tale is consistently entertaining, with memorable characters and a fluid storyline that never seems too complicated despite the massive amount of characters, locations, and history of the Wasseypur region (whose history is just as complicated as the Khan-Singh rivalry!)

Anurag Kashyap is the force behind the Gangs of Wasseypur films, directing as well as helping to produce and write. Kashyap had been interested in doing a gang epic for years, and after hearing about the real life gang warfare and rise of the mafia in Wasseypur, he found a tale to tell. The story loosely follows real events, starting just before India’s independence in 1947 and concluding in near modern day. It is essentially a revenge tale, but not in a traditional sense.
Gangs of Wasseypur
The events spanning time show the economic shifts of India modernizing. In the 1940s, wood is the first item of value, then the real power becomes the coal mines. By the 1970s, it’s gasoline that becomes important, and soon after the Khan family is cornering the iron scrap economy, the conflict over this running through the second film. There is even a takeover of fishing rights just as an aside.

The long tale introduces a huge amount of characters as it passes through the decades, as people enter and exit the lives of the Khan family. Each major character gets a title card, and every character is unique with their own personalities, and just who lives and dies and when and where happens as it would in life, with characters you don’t expect dropping away and others suddenly thrust into larger roles. Everything is done in a manner that just feels like you’re watching true events and not a story punched up to be more Hollywood.
Gangs of Wasseypur
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