Movie Review: Gangs of Wasseypur Part I

Releasing a movie in multiple parts is advantageous to the film maker. If the story is conceived in a certain pace with a lot of events, then it ends up longer. At this point,  it is left to the discretion of the editor to chop the excess. This could lead to undesirable outcome. By choosing two parts, the film maker is able to entertain and also garner more revenue than a single part. Although Anurag Kashyap qualifies to be one of the movie makers in India who can do this feat considering his contributions to Indian cinema. But his latest offering Gangs of Wasseypur is not the right movie to try this technique. Gangs of Wasseyput Part I is all about Sardar Khan(Manoj Bajpai). It tells the story from a few years before Sardar was born when Sardar's dad impersonates a dreaded dacoit to loot the trains passing through Wasseypur. As a result of this, Sardar's father is driven out of the village by Qureshi muslims. Before long, Sardar's father is killed by an industrialist Ramadhir Singh(Tigmanshu Dhulia). These events instills hatred in the mind of Sardar towards both Qureshis and Ramadhir which in turn affects the way he leads life and also the kind of life he adopts.

Anurag Kashyap's movie details a story of revenge and survival in rural India set against a political backdrop. Even with technical finesse and excellent cast, the movie falls short because of many reasons. The political backdrop of the events are described using an voice over; the voice of Farhan(Piyush Mishra) who is also the caretaker of Sardar in all sense. But the narration is fast on the various political events that propels the growth of many of the characters. This is confusing. Moreover, the political impacts on the story's progression is treated superficially. Rather devoting time on the political backdrop, more length has been devoted to sexual appetite of Sardar especially the wooing of Durga(Reemma Sen) and also romantic interlude of Sardar's son Faizal(Nawazuddin Siddiqui). These are hilarious sequences and captivating scenes. When compared to the main theme of the movie, these are actually distractions. Also, DI techniques could have been better used to denote the different eras. The tough life in rural India is brilliantly portrayed despite the shortcomings. This is a male dominated theme. It is the brilliance of Anurag that such a male dominated theme shows strong women, be it Sardar's first wife Nagma(Richa Chadda), Sardar's second wife Durga or Faizal's lover Mohsina(Huma Qureshi).

Performance wise, the movie belongs two people, Manoj Bajpai as Sardar Khan and Richa Chadda as Nagma. Manoj successfully portrays Sardar who doesn't get angry and adopts violence without guilt. He displays his versatility by portraying an energetic younger days to a restrained older man. The scenes where he lusts and woos Durga are hilarious. At the same time, the scenes where he interacts with his older son after latter's marriage is heart-warming. Richa Chadda, the relatively new face, has a bigger responsibility for Nagma is no ordinary woman. A pregnant Nagma has a showdown with her sex-addicted husband in a local brothel. She has to resist the sexual advances of her husband during pregnancy. Finally she comes to terms with his adulterous habits. When her husband leaves her temporarily, she takes care of her family providing the most essential mental strength to the other members of her family. That is a tall order. But she delivers and her portrayal remains in your mind.

If you are an Anurag Kashyap fan, wait for the DVD. The others can give it a skip. If you still want to go for it, keep in mind it is violent. The violence is depicted by blood and rest is in your imagination. This actually is more disturbing.

Language: Hindi

Genre: Drama

Rating: **