Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2

<p>At the end of , Sultan Qureshi had Sardar Khan murdered by three associates. Danish, Faizal, and Asgar track down two of his killers and murder them, but Danish is arrested in the process. Sultan and Fazlu gun him down at his court appearance. At Danish’s funeral, Nagma doubts Faizal’s ability to exact revenge, but Faizal promises her that he will. Realizing that he has been duped by Fazlu, Faizal meets him on the pretext of congratulating him for winning a local election but instead beheads him. By doing so, Faizal makes his mark and eventually comes to control the illegal iron trade in the area. Faizal then makes a truce with Ramadhir Singh – he will not attempt to avenge his family as long as Ramadhir provides him political support. As Faizal’s business grows, he marries his sweetheart, Mohsina Hamid. Faizal eventually tracks down his father’s third killer and murders him, completing his revenge. In 2003, a small-time goon named Shamshad Alam becomes allied with Faizal. Shamshad offers to increase Faizal’s profits with his knowledge of the scrap iron business, but keeps 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 Faizal’s younger brother Perpendicular’s antics and hire Sultan to kill him. Ramadhir is losing 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 the waning of JP’s prominence and influence. In December 2003, Sultan’s men track down Perpendicular and kill him. When Faizal goes to retrieve the body, he is arrested by the police. With Faizal in jail, Definite decides to kill Shamshad before Shamshad tries to fill Faizal’s vacant position, but his pistol jams at the last moment, and he is forced to run. Definite eludes Shamshad but jumps onto a train car full of Army soldiers. He is arrested and jailed; there he meets Faizal. Ramadhir advises Shamshad to bail Definite out of jail and then instigate him against his own brother for his empire. Ramadhir feels like he can influence Definite due to his connection with Definite’s mother Durga. Faizal is aware of Shamshad’s plan and cautions Definite before he leaves the jail. Definite carries out a grenade attack at Shamshad’s office, causing Shamshad to lose a leg. Sultan narrowly escapes injury and chases Definite back to Faizal’s house. There he finds his own sister Shama. Angry at her for marrying Danish, Sultan shoots her and leaves her for dead. She survives but falls into a coma. In January 2004, when Faizal is released from jail, J.P. cautions Sultan and advises him to kill Faizal in a preemptive strike. Sultan launches a massive fire strike (depicted at the beginning of Part I) on 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., but Sultan escapes in the ensuing firefight. A few days later, Sultan’s men kill Nagma and Asgar in a market; Definite and his men track Sultan to and kill him in revenge. 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. In 2005, Iqlakh, an educated English speaker, enters Faizal’s gang. Iqlakh actually wants to exact revenge and is Ramadhir’s mole. 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 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, has Definite released from jail and sends J.P. to negotiate 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 election day, and if he is unable, Definite will take the shot. On election day, Definite’s gang disrupts the elections to prevent Faizal from winning. Iqlakh leads Faizal to an isolated place and tries to kill them, but Definite arrives, double-crosses Iqlakh, and kills him, explaining to Faizal that Ramadhir changed the plan. Despite a now-pregnant Mohsina’s pleas, Faizal decides to attack Ramadhir. Faizal, Definite, and his men attack a meeting between Ramadhir and Shamshed and murder both. In the ensuing firefight with the police, Faizal and Definite are the only survivors and are arrested. En route to prison, the police halt at a roadside restaurant for refreshments, leaving Faizal alone in the police van. Faizal is then shot dead by Definite, released by the police. It is revealed that J.P. was the architect of the massacre, and Definite is seen free, walking towards his mother. Four years later, in 2009, Mohsina and Nasir have moved to Mumbai with Faizal’s young son, Feroz. 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. The soundtrack album of the two-part compilation of has a whopping 27 songs, which are composed by and , with lyrics by Mishra and . However, the album was split up according to the film’s release. The film score is composed by . Part-2 has 13 songs which were released on 11 July 2012. The franchise promoted a fake electoral campaign through the streets of and 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 shot with the cast of . Actors (Faisal Khan) and (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. received mostly positive reviews. rated the movie 4/5 stars on 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 entertaining. 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 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 a 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.” of gave the movie 4/5 stars, saying that “On the whole, 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 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 , there is no reason why won’t have another blast watching . But be warned: be sure that your stomach for blood and gore doesn’t give way.” Blessy Chettiar of 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 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 the 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 gave the movie 4/5 stars, concluding that “While watching ‘Wasseypur’, the entire film takes your life away! 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 gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, stating that “Anurag Kashyap shines once again in the concluding part of 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 – provides enough cinematic memorabilia to single-handedly last us the summer.” International critics have given , 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. premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival on the evening of 22 May 2012 as the most highly anticipated Indian film. Deborah Young of 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 ” puts Tarantino in a corner with its cool command of cinematically inspired and referenced violence, ironic characters and breathless pace”. Maggie Lee of 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 colour. 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 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. collected in the first weekend and by end of first week. Film ended with a total collection of . The film mainly draws its story from the real life gang wars that took place in the region of Dhanbad, . The character of Ramadhir Singh is based on . 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 is based on Fahim Khan. The latter was not killed but is currently in jail in , sentenced to life imprisonment. The character of Faizal Khan’s friend Fazlu is based on Sabir Alam. In the film, Fazlu is killed and decapitated by Faizal. While Sabir and Fahim Khan were also childhood friends turned enemies, Sabir was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007 for the murder of Fahim Khan’s mother and aunt (who in the film where murdered by Sultan Qureshis’ men), but was out on bail in Wasseypur as of 2013. 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.</p>