Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2

Plot Summary

The film resumes with the murder of Sardar Khan by Sultan Qureshi and three of his men. When Danish (Sardar's eldest son), Faizal (Sardar's second son) and Asgar (Sardar's cousin) go to retrieve his body, Danish instantly kills the lone captured killer and vows to kill the other three. Danish and Asgar explain to Faizal that his friend Fazlu Ahmed had doped Faizal with marijuana the night before Sardar's death and had informed Sultan that Sardar would be travelling without bodyguards the next day. Faizal later meets Fazlu, and overhears him on the phone talking to another of Sardar Khan's killers, Saggir. Faizal learns that Saggir would be at the shopping centre the next morning. The next day Danish and Asgar go to the shopping centre, and Danish kills Saggir. Sultan and Fazlu then kill Danish outside a courthouse. At Danish's funeral, Nagma doubts Faizal's ability to exact revenge, but Faizal promises her that he will.

Faizal lies low and waits for right opportunity. When Fazlu wins a local election Faizal meets him on the pretext of congratulating him, but instead beheads him. By doing so, Faizal makes his mark and becomes so feared that illegal iron traders become his cronies. Faizal then makes a truce with Ramadhir Singh. According to their agreement, Ramadhir would provide political support to Faizal's business in Wasseypur on the condition that Faizal would not avenge his father, brother and grandfather. As Faizal's business grows, he marries his sweetheart Mohsina Hamid. Faizal's gang then determines the whereabouts of Sardar's third killer, Khalid, through an aide. Faizal has Khalid's head shaved and then shoots him, enraging Sultan.

Babu Khan (Sardar's third son, known as Perpendicular) and Definite Khan (Sardar's son with Durga) are then introduced. Perpendicular is a 14-year old who manages to get away with looting shops because no one is willing to testify against him in fear of Faizal, and Definite is an up-and-coming goon. Meanwhile, Wasseypur has spawned a new generation of money squandering lobbyists that turn into gangsters overnight. A small-time goon named Shamshad Alam has his own transport business and then moves to trading iron, in doing so making an alliance with Faizal. Shamshad offers to increase Faizal's profits with his astute knowledge of the scrap iron business. However, Shamshad begins to keep increasingly significant portions of the profit for himself. When this is revealed to Faizal, Shamshad goes to the police and provides phone calls as evidence of Faizal's involvement in the illegal iron trade. Meanwhile, local shopkeepers lose their patience with Perpendicular's antics and hire Sultan to kill him. Ramadhir meanwhile is losing his faith in his son J.P's ability to run his empire and J.P often finds himself in line of fire for his inability. This results in waning of J.P.'s prominence and influence.

Sultan's men chase Perpendicular and his friend Tangent after they watch a film. Tangent manages to get back to Faizal's house but Sultan catches Perpendicular and kills him by some railway tracks. Faizal and his gang arrive at the scene and as they are removing Perpendicular's body, the police turn up and arrest Faizal. With Faizal in jail, Definite decides to kill Shamshad before Shamshad tries to fill Faizal's vacant position. However, Definite's pistol jams in the middle of the assassination attempt and he is forced to run. Shamshad and his friend chase him, but Definite manages to jump onto a train. However, the train is full of Indian Army soldiers and Definite is arrested. He is sent to jail, where he meets Faizal.

Ramadhir advises Shamshad to bail Definite out of the jail and then instigate him against his own brother for his empire. Durga worked as a cook for Ramadhir after Sardar's death, and thus Ramadhir feels that he has the influence to put Definite up against Faizal. Faizal is aware of Shamshad's plan and cautions Definite before he leaves the jail. Definite visits Shamshad's office and throws in a grenade, causing Shamshad to lose his leg. Sultan, who was also at Shamshad's office, chases Definite and goes to Faizal's house looking for him. There Sultan doesn't find Definite but finds his sister Shama instead. Although Shama is happy to see him, Sultan shoots her in the head and she falls into a coma. When Faizal is about to be released from jail, J.P cautions Sultan and advises him to kill Faizal in a pre-emptive strike. Sultan along with his gang attacks Faizal's house, but Faizal and his entire family have a lucky escape. As Sultan's gang is leaving, they find a police checkpoint waiting for them and realise that they were double crossed by J.P. Sultan escapes in the ensuing firefight. A few days later, Sultan's men kill Nagma and Asgar in a market in broad daylight. Definite and some other members of Faizal's gang track Sultan to Bhagalpur and kill him. Upon realising that Definite has avenged Danish, Shama, Nagma and Asgar, Faizal tells him to surrender to cement his reputation. With Definite in jail, Ramadhir then aims to create a rift between Definite and Faizal.

Iqlakh, an educated English-speaker, enters Faizal's gang. Iqlakh actually wants wants to exact revenge and is Ramadhir's mole. Iqlakh's father raped a Wasseypur woman in 1985 and when Sardar Khan found out, he forced Iqlakh's father to divorce his wife and marry the woman he raped (depicted in Part 1). Iqlakh is his father's son with the first wife, whom he divorced. Faizal is initially impressed with Iqlakh's skills and is later made aware of Iqlakh's background, but decides to ignore it. Iqlakh has an astute knowledge of business and bags scrap auctions by force. This brings in a lot of profit for Faizal without any risk, and causes him to neglect Definite. Iqlakh advises Faizal to enter politics in order to provide political protection to all his activities. Faizal decides to contest from Ramadhir's constituency to exact his own revenge.

Ramadhir, feeling threatened, tries to use Definite against Faizal. He releases Definite from jail and sends J.P to broker a deal. J.P, however, is tired of his father's insults and wants to use Faizal to kill him. Ramadhir's plan is that Iqlakh will kill Faizal on the polling day and if he is unable, Definite will take the shot. Definite goes straight to Faizal and informs him of the plan. On the polling day Definite's gang disrupts the elections by force in an effort to prevent Faizal winning. Iqlakh leads Faizal to an isolated place and tries to kill them, but Definite arrives, double crosses Iqlakh and kills him. Definite explains that Ramadhir changed the plan.

Faizal decides to attack Ramadhir. He knows that Ramadhir is meeting with Shamshad in hospital. Faizal, Definite and other gang members take an ambulance with a large cache of weapons and head towards the hospital. They enter the hospital, and Faizal kills all of Ramadhir's men as the police arrive. He lets other civilians out of the hospital but kills Shamshad. Faizal then finds Ramadhir in a bathroom and kills him, emptying multiple magazines of ammunition into his body. In the meantime the police kill all most of Faizal's gang. Faizal and Definite, the only survivors, are arrested. En route to prison the police halts at roadside restaurant for refreshments, leaving Faizal alone in the police van. Faizal is then shot dead by Definite. It is revealed that J.P was the architect of the massacre and Definite is seen free, walking towards his mother.

Four years later, Mohsina and Nasir have moved to Mumbai with Faizal's young son. Definite now rules Wasseypur. Nasir, describes that Wasseypur was not affected by Ramadhir's and Faizal's deaths and concludes that it is still a battlefield like before.

Cast

Development

Anurag Kashyap had wanted to make a film set in Bihar with the name 'Bihar' for some time, but the project didn't take off. In 2008, he met Zeishan Quadri, writer of GANGS who told him about Wasseypur's story. The lawlessness of Dhanbhad and Wasseypur captured his imagination. Zeishan narrated a wide panoply of stories but what really attracted him was not the gang war itself, but the bigger story of the emergence of the mafia. According to Kashyap, telling the story through the eyes of a few families is what interested him but that also meant a longer reel. "We all know mafia exists but what they do, how they operate, why they do we don't know and that is something which forms the basis of the film". Anurag Kashyap celebrated the success of Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2, by throwing an iftaar party at a suburban hotel at Bandra in Mumbai on Friday, 17 August, late evening.

Filming

While filming in Varanasi in December 2010, the film's chief assistant director Sahil Shah was killed on shoot while performing a stunt scene. The Movie has been dedicated to Sahil Shah. Initial parts of the movie were shot in madhankhorchi , Kerla. The film finished production in late March 2011, with Anurag Kashyap moving on to direct his next film immediately due to the accident. Major portions of the film were shot in villages near Bihar. Shooting of film also took place in Chunar. Anurag Kashyap, who co-produced the film with Sunil Bohra, has said that it is his most expensive film and he reportedly had to spend ₹150 million on paying the actors. Both parts of Gangs of Wasseypur together cost just ₹ 184 million to make, which makes one film at ₹92 million. Anurag Kashyap, the director of film has declared on Twitter: "45 crores as reported in the media is false." ₹260 million was spent on marketing the film.

Marketing

The Gangs of Wasseypur franchise promoted a fake electoral campaign through the streets of Mumbai and Delhi to market the second instalment of the political thriller. In several areas of the two cities, political posters had been plastered, in which the two opposing contestants from the movie Ramadhir Singh and Faizal Khan, vied for votes.

The main cast of Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 shot with the cast of Afsar Bitiya. Actors Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Faisal Khan) and Huma Qureshi (Mohsina) made a special appearance on the show. The show was aired on 7–8 August 2012.

As a part of the marketing campaign, the 'Wasseypur Patrika', a fictitious newspaper was made available online.

Critical Reception

Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 received mostly positive reviews. It is rated 7/10 on the Hindi film review aggregator website ReviewGang.

Mayank Shekhar rated the movie 4/5 stars on Daily Bhaskar and his review at theW14.com reads, "This is India's equivalent of; take your pick, Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time in America (1984), or Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon A Time in Mexico (2003), though I suppose it could possibly be better than both. It's the definitive "litti western" to borrow the stock phrase "spaghetti western" for Leone's film. With 320 minutes broken into two parts, allows Kashyap the scope to seriously self-indulge and unabashedly entertain. The reason you prefer this sequel to the first installment, besides it being more contemporary is, well, this is where the beginning ties up with the end. You get a full sense of the film's ambitions."

Jaykumar Shah of Planet Bollywood gave the movie 8.5/10 stars, saying that "All in all, this is the best movie to come out from India this year so far. It is gritty, well-paced, extremely well-acted, genre defining, path breaking work of art. The movie is not for the ones who are not comfortable with violence being depicted graphically. If you can digest violence on screen, it is a sure winner."

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the movie 4/5 stars, saying that "On the whole, Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 is an Anurag Kashyap show all through and without an iota of doubt, can easily be listed as one amongst his paramount works. An engaging movie with several bravura moments. Watch it for its absolute cinematic brilliancy!"

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the movie 4/5 stars, stating that "The revenge, filmed with an operatic slo-mo rhythm, is bloodier than anything you would have seen before. But if you liked Gangs Of Wasseypur, there is no reason why won’t have another blast watching Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2. But be warned: be sure that your stomach for blood and gore doesn’t give way."

Blessy Chettiar of DNA India gave the movie 4/5 stars, commenting that "Guns speak where abusive language fails. Patience and a real kaleja will see you through this fast-paced, exhilarating blood fest. Kashyap makes sure the gore is beyond redemption. If you’re turned off by it, not his fault."

Madhureeta Mukherjee of Times Of India gave the movie 4/5 stars, saying that "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. Like the first part, the movie slows down at times (with pointless pistols, hordes of characters and wasted sub-plots); the length needs to be shot down desperately. But otherwise, it's revenge on a platter – served cold (heartedly) and definitely worth a 'second' helping."

Ananya Bhattacharya of Zee News gave the movie 4/5 stars, concluding that "While watching ‘Wasseypur’, the entire film takes your life away! Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is a film, which, with its predecessor, is one that is here to stay, to break conceptions, to demolish structures. With the history of Wasseypur, ‘Wasseypur’ has created another history."

Raja Sen of Rediff gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, stating that "Anurag Kashyap shines once again in the concluding part of Gangs of Wasseypur even though the film is a tad too long. For all its folly – and the fact that an hour could have been lopped off its running length, easy – Gangs Of Wasseypur II provides enough cinematic memorabilia to single-handedly last us the summer."

Kunal Guha of Yahoo! gave the movie 3/5 stars, commenting that "While it would be nice to inherit the right amount of angst for this revenge sequel, this one intermittently recaps what led whom to get where and why. In fact, the first part wasted a lot of time in flagging historical landmarks, in introducing characters and was much scattered with the number of elements and periods to be covered. This one has characters ready to dive into action with a quick backgrounder for new additions, leaving much time to weave a tighter and telling story. Chhi Chha Leather, definitely one that weathers."

Conversely, Prathamesh Jadhav of Bollywood Life gave the movie 2.5/5 stars, saying that "In totality, Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs Of Wassepur II is murkier than its first outing, but it certainly isn’t spicier."

Roshni Devi of Koimoi gave the movie 2/5 stars, stating that "It’s only the actors and the music of Gangs Of Wasseypur 2 that would make it worth the watch."

Martin D'Souza of Glamsham gave the movie 1.5/5 stars, concluding that "In short, Part 2 'Definitely' does not have a 'Perpendicular' rise. It is off 'Tangent'!"

Gaurav Mokhasi of SecondBaseCritics heaped praise on Part 2 saying, "One needs to realise that GoW was never meant to be the expeditious Lamborghini that speeds past you in an instant and leaves you gasping. Rather, it is the Rolls Royce that cruises slowly by your side, instilling in you a prolonged feeling of awe. The movie deliberately slows down on more than one occasion as the director indulges in it and draws you into his larger than life vision."

International critics have given Gangs of Wasseypur, the first mainstream Bollywood film to be selected for the Director's Fortnight, rave reviews following its world premiere at the 65th Cannes Film Festival. Gangs of Wasseypur premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival on the evening of 22 May 2012 as the most highly anticipated Indian film. Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "an extraordinary ride through Bollywood's spectacular, over-the-top filmmaking".

Kashyap, whose reputation as a screenwriter and controversial director reach a culmination in this film, is the real behind-the-scenes godfather, never losing control over the story-telling or hundreds of actors, and allowing tongue-in-cheek diversions in the second half that confirm his command over the sprawling material. In the spirit of Bollywood, Rajiv Ravi's lensing is fast on its feet, with a continually moving camera that always seems to be in the right spot to capture the action. Referring to the violence and pace of the film she says "Gangs of Wasseypur puts Tarantino in a corner with its cool command of cinematically-inspired and referenced violence, ironic characters and breathless pace".

Maggie Lee of Variety notes Kashyap never lets his diverse influences of old-school Italo-American mafia classics a la Coppola, Scorsese and Leone, as well as David Michod's taut crime thriller "Animal Kingdom, override the distinct Indian color. Calling the film "the love child of Bollywood and Hollywood," she felt the film was "by turns pulverizing and poetic in its depiction of violence."

Lee Marshall of Screen International writes "the script alternates engagingly between scenes of sometimes stomach-churning violence and moments of domestic comedy, made more tasty by hard-boiled lines of dialogue like “in Wasseypur even the pigeons fly with one wing, because they need the other to cover their arse” ". He describes song lyrics "as if mouthed by a Greek chorus of street punks" commenting sarcastically on what's happening onscreen.

Gangs of Wasseypur holds a current rating of 89 on the popular critic website Metacritic, thereby receiving a "Universal Acclaim" status from it.

Box office

Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 opened to a poor to medium response at most places in the country . The opening was around the 30% mark on average.The business of two days including paid previews is ₹55.0 million (US$820,000) nett. The film showed a little growth on its third day and collected around ₹32.5 million (US$480,000).The film has collected around ₹185.0 million (US$2.7 million) nett in nine days plus paid previews. The first part of Gangs of Wasseypur was not a huge hit and this has led to the second part doing lesser business. Its net collection stands at ₹229.6 million (US$3.4 million) Although not a huge hit by any standard, the meagre combined budget of ₹185 million (US$2.7 million) allowed the 2 films to be commercially successful, with net domestic earnings of ₹508.1 million (US$7.6 million) (of the 2 parts combined). Even on its own, the net domestic collections of ₹229.6 million (US$3.4 million) far exceeds the individual budget of Part 2 i.e. ₹92 million (US$1.4 million), making it a successful commercial venture.

Soundtrack

Music composed by Sneha Khanwalkar, with lyrics by Varun Grover. Music is on T-Series.

Sneha Khanwalkar had been nominated for various awards for the music of the 2 parts, including the prestigious Best Music Director award at the 58th Filmfare Awards.

Differences from Actual Events

The film mainly draws its story from the real life gang wars that took place in the Dhanbad area. There are several events in the film which differ from the actual documented events. The character of Faizal Khan, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, dies in the climax. The character is based on Fahim Khan, who was not killed but is currently in jail in Hazaribagh and has been sentenced to life imprisonment. In the film, Sardar Khan marries a Bengali Hindu woman but in real life, the woman was maintained as a mistress. Most of the gang wars were between the gangs of Wasseypur and not with the Singh family led by Ramadhir Singh (played by Tigmanshu Dhulia) as depicted. The Singhs had been instrumental in instigating the gang wars, but never participated in them.

Another scene in the movie depicts a Muslim girl being kidnapped by Singh’s men. In reality, the victim was a local Hindu girl and the kidnappers were a few goons from Wasseypur. Members of the Singh family threatened all Wasseypur residents with retaliation if the girl was not returned within 24 hours. The girl was eventually returned as the Singhs were regarded with fear in Wasseypur.

The character of Ramadhir Singh is based on Surajdeo Singh. In the film's climax, Singh is brutally killed by Faizal Khan but in real life, Surajdeo Singh was poisoned in his native village during an election campaign in June 1991. Allegedly, Suresh Singh had him poisoned both to avenge the murder of BP Sinha and so that Suresh could become the undisputed coal king of Dhanbad.

The character of Faizal Khan's friend Fazlu is based on Sabir Alam. In the film, Fazlu is killed and decapitated by Faizal Khan. In real life, Sabir Alam and Fahim Khan were childhood friends turned enemies. Sabir was awarded the life sentence in 2007 for the murder of Fahim Khan's mother and aunt, and is currently out on bail in Wasseypur.

The mafia's downfall in Dhanbad didn't come from gang wars but rather it came from the differences between Kunti Singh, the widow of Surajdeo Singh, and his three brothers – Baccha Singh, Rajan Singh and Ram Dhani Singh – which gave others an opportunity to make space for themselves.

Sequel

Director Kashyap confirmed there will be third part of the franchise, named Gangs of Wasseypur 1.5.