Movie Review : Gangs of Wasseypur II

Rating : 5/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 30 minutes
Director : Anurag Kashyap
Cast : Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chaddha, Zeishan Quadri, Aditya Kumar, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Piyush Mishra, Vineet Singh
Kid rating : A

This film continues the revenge story from Part 1. It has come about that Danish (Vineet Singh) and Faizal Khan (Siddiqui), sons of Sardar Khan (Manoj Bajpai in Part 1) must continue the war that their father fought. Ramadheer Singh is still the enemy; he has grown more powerful since, progressing from a mere “khadaan” owner to a government Minister. Into the fray are also other smaller fish – Babua aka “Perpendicular” (Aditya Kumar), Danish and Faizal’s youngest brother, “Tangent”, Perpendicular’s best friend and “Definite” (Zeishan Quadri), Durga’s son and their step-brother. Perpendicular’s weapon of choice is the humble razor blade, and he wields it with ease, having gotten his nickname because he has learnt that the blade must be used in a perpendicular fashion to kill; applied tangentially the victim survives.

Faizal Khan now has many more enemies. There is Sultan Khan, whose sister is married to Danish. There is Definite, who resents Sardar Khan’s abandonment of his mother, Durga, and wants power for himself. There is Ramadhir Singh (Dhulia) and his son JP “jaypeeya“. And then there are some adversaries that Faizal hasn’t accounted for. There is treachery and deceit everywhere, double-crosses galore. We are never sure when a character is a turncoat.

Like Part 1 was Manoj Bajpayee’s film, this is Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s. As Faizal, gaunt Siddiqui delivers an intense, brooding performance. Physically he is short and thin, but still has a powerful screen presence, and as Faizal, an almost careless bravado, which his enemies realize to their detriment isn’t just bravado, but the real thing. Faizal is ruthless but smart, and soon is the master of Wasseypur.

While both Gow Part 1 & 2 are landmarks in Hindi cinema, I’ve got to say that I liked Part 2 better. While Part 1 was just as arresting, it took a while for the story to get interesting. In Part 2 it’s full steam ahead, right from the get-go. It’s bloody and vengeful, with it’s fair share of narrow gali chases, and gun fights. But it also has dark humor and it’s own specific attempts at romance – Faizal’s courtship of the beautiful Mohsina (Huma Quraishi).

The dialect is still very earthy – Faizal is “Phaijal“, the song lyrics are an odd mix of twisted English “Jo bhi wrong-wa hai usey, set right-wa karo ji“, and the cusswords are still as prolific. The soundtrack and background is impressive – I especially loved “Moora” which started off with “Frustiya nahi moora, narbhasao nahin moora . . .” ; Mohsina sings this to soothe the conflicted Faizal. Here’s the Youtube link which just has the vocals, couldn’t find the video anywhere.

A gorgeous successor to Part 1 and well deserving of the full 5 stars, Gow 2 is my pick for the best film of 2012.

Kidwise : As with Part 1, this is extremely violent and meant for adults only.