Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chadda, Huma Qureshi, Reema Sen, Rajkumar Yadav, Manoj Bajpayee

Direction: Anurag Kashyap

Rating:

The tough deal was going one up. Part 1 was a complete package. It seemed like Anurag Kashyap had poured every bit of his explosive creativity into that first film while establishing power battle in the coal-belt badlands of Dhanbad.

If GOW 1 enthralled, it also left the appetite whetted. What next level would Anurag possibly scale with GOW 2, as he carries forward his saga to the next generation?

Cleverly, and perhaps because he made both films as a single five-hour project before opting to release them in two parts, Anurag doesn't leave scope for comparisons. GOW 2 can only be seen as a smarter, better crafted extension of GOW rather than a sequel. It works for you better if you have watched the first part.

Mood-wise, GOW 2 is more gripping than the first film. Unlike GOW, there is no need to waste minutes in introducing the premise, since you already know it. A familiar idiom kicks in straightaway as Anurag mixes drama with primal rage, the cocky bursts of humour and cuss spurts very much in place. The blood-fest is on too, to retain the menacing edge.

The story moves beyond petty gang wars. We start off in the nineties and Wasseypur is now a hotbed of money laundering lobbyists and illegal profiteers, who make a killing using the emerging technology of the internet. With Manoj Bajpayee's Sardar Khan out of the way, Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia) is now the most powerful man in town. The only one who thinks of standing up against Ramadhir is Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), Sardar's younger son. As Anurag continues reimagining The Godfather with a hardy Bihari twist, Faizal emerges as the Michael Corleone figure. His plan to finish off Ramadhir leads to a brilliant finale.

The drama and the violence regale, as do the witty winks at all things Bollywood, which has forever consumed the small town popular psyche. References to contemporary hits and the starry-eyed obsession of the locals - Faizal included - add a texture to the heavy revenge drama that primarily defines the GOW films.

If the first film belonged to Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui's is the performance to watch in Wasseypur 2. Nawaz makes you forget it is only an act, and that is his triumph. He morphs seamlessly from a skinny dopey to the resolute son out to avenge Sardar's death. Faizal's partners in crime - the blade-chewing Perpendicular (Aditya Kumar) and the Salman Khan-obsessed Definite (Zeishan Qadri) - are other class acts.

In the end though, the real star of the saga will always be its director. With the GOW flicks, Anurag Kashyap just gave reality a deliciously larger-than-life swagger.


Gangs of Wasseypur 2 Movie More stills


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