Gangs of Wasseypur is a 2012 Hindi crime movie directed and co- written by Indian movie-maker Anurag Kashyap starring veteran Indian actor Manoj Bajpai in the lead role. Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur is a crime saga that revolves around a three-generation long sanguinary rivalry between two disputing Muslim clans: the 'Khans' and the 'Qureshis'. However, this bloody battle is not religious but strictly territorial in nature as the two clans indulge in incessant fights seeking carte blanche to run their respective crime syndicates in Wasseypur. It's worth mentioning that the events and circumstances depicted in Gangs of Wasseypur are fictionalized accounts of the real life events that occurred in the district of Wasseypur during the pre and post-independence India.

Despite a taut narrative, Gangs of Wasseypur occasionally suffers from redundancy in its plot that often reflects in its expletive-driven, harangue-like dialogue. Another thing that can be disconcerting to a seasoned movie viewer is Gangs of Wasseypur's obvious similarity to Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather Trilogy. Now, as much as it may sound like a disparaging remark for Gangs of Wasseypur, in reality it's a testament to the timelessness and universality of Coppola's masterful crime saga that continues to inspire movie-makers worldwide even after so many decades. Anurag Kashyap has indeed succeeded in leaving a mark with his rustic adaptation.

Another interesting thing to note is that the name 'Gangs of Wasseypur' bears a striking similarity to Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. The similarity is obviously not limited to the name, for the battle scenes filmed in Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur match and at times surpass the gore and grotesquery depicted in Scorsese's larger than life portrayal of gang wars in the nineteenth century New York City. In Gangs of Wasseypur, Kashyap strives to strike the right balance between various cinematic elements that helps the movie touch the lows and highs of cinema, thereby helping it break the stereotype associated with quintessential Bollywood cinema. Gangs of Wasseypur serves to be a highlight-reel of some of the most disturbing sequences ever filmed in Indian cinema depicting shootouts, prison-breaks, brawls, bomb blasts, rallies, kidnappings, rapes, train-robberies, forced marriages, women in labor, lovemaking, killings, and butchery. One interesting facet that makes these scenes really effective is the level of realism and conviction with which they are carried forward in the movie.

In Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag Kashyap presents a grim picture of human decadence: Amongst the hundreds of masculine characters depicted in the movie, one doesn't get to witness a single likable character, for most of them come across as bestial beings desperate to serve their basic instincts of survival, physical love, wealth and power. On the other hand, the women are portrayed as secondary beings who are looked upon by men as materialistic pleasures rather than meaningful pursuits. Manoj Bajpai delivers a tour de force in Gangs of Wasseypur. His portrayal of Sardar Khan ranks right up there with the very best performances in the history of Indian cinema. Sardar is ferocious killer as well as a voracious lover whose feral instincts to kill (his adversaries) are remarkably matched by his play boyish passion to for physical love. It is this balance that helps him keep his composure amidst pervasive insanity and gives him the courage to single- handedly knockout his adversaries. Sardar Khan uses a combination of brute force and acumen to rise to the top of the food chain. Manoj Bajpai musters all his talent and courage to perfectly fit into the shoes of Sardar Khan. It wouldn't be a hyperbole to say that no other actor could have fit better in the role of a 'Desi Bahubali' than Bajpai himself.

The rest of the cast gives memorable performances that help bring characters to life with a special mention of Nawazuddin Siddiqui whose underplayed cameo as Sardar Khan's younger son offered a great contrast to Manoj Bajpai's over the top portrayal. Siddiqui's low-key portrayal is also in great contrast to his portrayal of a tough, haughty cop in Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani. It's remarkable that in such a shot period of time he has shown such great versatility as an actor. Siddiqui is expected to have a major role in the second part of Gangs of Wasseypur considering the similarities of his part to Al Pacino's Michael Corleone. Whether Siddiqui will succeed in carving a niche for himself as Pacino had managed with his portrayal in The Godfather I & II is for the time to decide. The cinematography of Gangs of Wasseypur is at par with the best in the world. Kashyap's sense of timing with the use of music is also exemplary. Kashyap expertly introduces occasional bursts of music and comedy to punctuate the slowly augmenting tension tension at different junctures in the movie. Kashyap's use of dark humor to judiciously propagate violence has an uncanny similarity to Quentin Tarantino's style of filmmaking. His choice of music in the movie's final sequence that depicts the brutal killing of one of movie's major characters is bizarre yet remarkably effective.

Overall, Gangs of Wasseypur serves to be a unique cinematic experience that's not free of its flaws. However, despite its apparent flaws, Gangs of Wasseypur has enough to offer to a keen movie-viewer who would not allow him/her to be overwhelmed by movie's abundance of everything. Gangs of Wasseypur serves be a sanguinary carnival of epic proportions that's surely not meant for the faint-hearted. The movie is an essential viewing for the lovers of Indian cinema, for they will get to see something quite refreshing in Gangs of Wasseypur, and also for those who want to get acquainted with it.

(This review was first published at A Potpourri of Vestiges)