Story: It’s the sequel
and the final chapter
in the bloody lives of the avenging ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. Sardar Khan’s sons are at war with Ramadhir Singh’s men; and the knives clash and the bullets flash; till either drops dead.
Movie Review: For those who like their celluloid hard and bloody and full of machismo, with an overdose of bodies, butchering and bloody-bravado, welcome to blood-fest – Round Two! This time it’s double the dollops of gore; two much. Booming guns and metal-shredded innards spilling gut onto the streets. More revenge and rage. More gangs and more bangs (some pistols firing from lungi covered groins) and more man-power. With every shade of red, black and grey – deeper and bolder. Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), son of Sardar Khan (played by Manoj Bajpai in ‘ GOW I ‘) inherits an unforgiving past, where his father was gruesomely cut down by a rival gang. After a series of shocking killings of his kin (mourning to the tunes of brass-bands playing ‘ Yaad teri aayegi’ with jhankar beats), and his mother’s (Richa Chaddha)forceful instigation, the pothead ‘snorts’ out of his stupor, and gets ‘cracking’, literally. He takes over as head of the family, and catapults into becoming the most powerful and dreaded man of Wasseypur . His addiction is now ‘blood’ – Ramadhir Singh’s ( Tigmanshu Dhulia) blood. And no amount of arsenal is enough to quench this blood-lust. Soon this revenge riot turns into a ruthless rampage, through dealings in illegal scrap trade, election rigging and hooliganism.
That’s the dark side of it all. On the lighter side, amidst all the blood-thirst, there’s some ishq-vishq too (no, the location doesn’t move to Cape Town, and no Parisian stylists and designers are flown down).
Director, Anurag Kashyap’s culmination to this gang-saga is as bloody as the first (if not more); yet it’s an easier watch. The story is astutely interspersed with bursts of music (Bihari folkish tunes with a modern twist), humour (crass and rural), high drama and sudden relief – like a sexual climaxing. Even with a high quotient of brutal violence and moral assassination, Kashyap keeps his sense of humour (mostly black) intact, and entertains. With characters named ‘Perpendicular’, ‘Definite’ (Zeishan Quadri), ‘Tangent’ – he truly defies all tiresomely tried-and-tested formulas of filmmaking in Bollywood with his ‘big bang-bang theory’.
Though in spurts, it unleashes scenes that make you crack up, in true Bollywood style humour. Wasseypur is not devoid of star-struck fans, with gangsters and locals walking and talking like a deadly Dutt or a super cool Salman, peppered with dialogues.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui spells doom, is devious and highly-dramatic – yet you take to his character almost instantly. He brilliantly blazes through this role, from being as strong or as shallow as his character demands.
Huma Qureshi, with her gaudy clothes, designer sun-glasses and unusual attractiveness is the hottest cheez in Wasseypur. She beautifully lends support as a powerful man’s ‘prouder’ better-half, even in his worst crimes. Richa Chaddha holds fort in the sequel too, strong and poised, she’s fab. Zeishan Quadri makes a mark, most ‘Definite’ly.
With excellent performances, a screenplay that’s strung together beautifully (Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh, Sachin Ladia, Anurag Kashyap) a revenge story that touches a dramatic crescendo and music that plays out perfectly in sync with tragic twists of tale – ‘ GOW II’ is an interesting watch, for the brave-hearted. (Agencies)