# Gangs of Wasseypur

Gangs of Wasseypur is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language two-part epic black comedy crime film produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap, and written by Kashyap and Zeishan Quadri. Centered on the coal mafia (Mafia Raj) of Dhanbad, and the underlying power struggles, politics and vengeance between three crime families, the film has an ensemble cast, with Manoj Bajpai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Richa Chadda, Jaideep Ahlawat, Huma Qureshi and Tigmanshu Dhulia in the major roles. Its story spans 68 years from 1941 to 2009.
Both parts were originally shot as a single film measuring a total of 321 minutes and screened at the 2012 Cannes Directors' Fortnight, but since no Indian theatre would volunteer to screen a film longer than five hours, it was split into two parts for that market.
Both films received widespread critical acclaim and were commercially successful at the box office. It has gained a large cult following over the years due to its dark humor, experimental soundtrack, and its raw and realistic filmmaking style not done by any Bollywood film before. In 2019, The Guardian listed it 59th on the 100 greatest movies of the 21st century.

## Cast

* Manoj Bajpayee as Sardar Khan, Shahid Khan's only son; Nagma and Durga's husband; Danish, Faizal, Perpendicular, and Definite's father; Mohsina and Shama's father-in-law; Feroz's grandfather.
* Jaideep Ahlawat as Shahid Khan, the patriarch of the Khan family; Sardar's father; Nagma and Durga's father-in-law; Danish, Faizal, Perpendicular, Definite's grandfather, Mohsina and Shama's grandfather in law; Feroz's great-grandfather.
* Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Faizal Khan, Sardar, and Nagma's second son; Durga's stepson; Danish, Perpendicular's brother; Definite's stepbrother; Mohsina's husband; Feroz's father.
* Richa Chadda as Nagma Khatoon, Sardar's first wife; Danish, Faizal, Perpendicular's mother; Shama and Mohsina's mother-in-law; Feroz's grandmother.
* Piyush Mishra as Nasir, Shahid Khan's servant, Sardar's sworn uncle, and narrator in the movie
* Jameel Khan as Asghar Khan, Nasir's nephew, and Sardar's sworn cousin
* Reema Sen as Durga, Sardar's second wife; Definite's mother; Danish, Faizal, and Perpendicular's stepmother.
* Huma Qureshi as Mohsina Hamid, Faizal's wife
* Zeishan Quadri as Definite Khan, Sardar's son from Durga
* Vineet Kumar Singh as Danish Khan, Sardar's eldest son
* Tigmanshu Dhulia as Ramadhir Singh, a criminal-turned-politician.
* Pankaj Tripathi as Sultan Qureshi, nephew of Sultana Daku, one of Sardar's enemies.
* Satyakam Anand as J. P. Singh, Ramadhir's son
* Vipin Sharma as Ehsan Qureshi, Sultan's uncle
* Pramod Pathak as Sultana Daku / Badoor Qureshi
* Anurita Jha as Shama Parveen, Danish's wife and Sultan's sister
* Sanjay Singh as Fazlu, Faisal's friend
* Rajkummar Rao as Shamshad Alam
* Vasan Bala in song Bhoos
* Aditya Kumar as Babu "Babua" Khan ("Perpendicular"), Sardar's youngest son
* Yashpal Sharma as Occasional Singer (Guest Appearance)
* Vicky Kaushal as silhouette bystander (Cameo Role)

## Production
### Development

Anurag Kashyap said he had wanted to make a film on Bihar with the name Bihar for some time, but for various reasons it didn't take off. In 2008 he met Zeishan Quadri (the writer of Gangs of Wasseypur) who told him about Wasseypur's story. He found it unreal to believe that mafia activity and gang war existed at such a high level, and what really attracted him was not gang war but the entire story of the emergence of the mafia. According to him, to tell the story through 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".

### Casting

According to Bajpayee, the role of Sardar Khan is the most negative role he has done till date. His motivation for doing this role came from the fact that there was "something new" with the character of Sardar Khan. Piyush Mishra and Tigmanshu Dhulia were given the discretion to decide who, among them, would perform the roles of Nasir and Ramadhir. Mishra chose the role of Nasir and Dhulia portrayed Ramadhir Singh. Chadda revealed in an interview that this role helped her bag 11 film roles. This was Huma Qureshi's first film, and she characterised this as her "dream debut". Qureshi landed this role after director Anurag Kashyap spotted her in a Samsung commercial he was directing.

### Filming

Major portions of the film were shot at villages near Bihar. Shooting also took place in Chunar. During filming in Varanasi in December 2010, film's chief assistant director Sohil Shah died while performing one of the stunt shot scenes. The movie was dedicated to Sohil Shah, as is seen in the opening titles. The film finished production in late March 2011.
The production cost was ₹18.4 crore. Anurag Kashyap has said that it is his most expensive film, and he reportedly had to spend ₹ 15 crore on paying the actors. However, he has tweeted that "45 crore as reported in the media is false."

## Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 32 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "More than five hours go by in a blink in this frantic Indian crime epic that spans generations and encompasses hundreds of characters in a bloody spiral of brutality, all masterfully filmed by Anurag Kashyap." The film holds a Metacritic score of 89 based on 10 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Critic Danny Bowes of RogerEbert.com called it "[o]ne of the most ambitious gangster films ever made, and quite possibly one of the best", writing that it is "worthy of discussion alongside Coppola's first two Godfather films, or Leone's Once Upon a Time in America." Salon's Andrew O'Hehir wrote: "As a rich and exuberant character-driven crime saga in an idiom you absolutely have not encountered before, and a dense, unsentimental portrayal of the collision between democracy, capitalism, and gangsterism on the frayed margins of the post-colonial world, Gangs of Wasseypur is a signal achievement in 21st-century cinema." Martin Scorsese, one of Kashyap's influences on the films and personal heroes, sent a letter to Kashyap, offering praise, stating that he "loved them", even expressing a desire to meet him. Director Anurag Kashyap has said twice that Tamil-language period action film Subramaniapuram was an inspiration.
In September 2019, The Guardian ranked Gangs of Wasseypur in 59th place in its 100 best films of the 21st century list, stating: "A possible turning point in Hindi cinema, Anurag Kashyap's epic drama doesn't pull any punches in its portrayal of gangster life in an Indian mining town".

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref |
| Asia-Pacific Film Festival | 15 December 2012 | Best Actor | Manoj Bajpayee | Nominated | |
| Asia-Pacific Film Festival | 15 December 2012 | Jury Grand Prize | Anurag Kashyap | Won | |
| BIG Star Entertainment Awards | 31 December 2012 | Best Debut - Female | Huma Qureshi | Won | |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Film | Gangs of Wasseypur | Nominated | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Film (Critics) | Won | | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Director | Anurag Kashyap | Nominated | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Actor | Manoj Bajpayee | Nominated | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Supporting Actress | Richa Chadda | Nominated | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Actress (Critics) | Richa Chadda | Won | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Female Debut | Huma Qureshi | Nominated | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Music Director | Sneha Khanwalkar | Nominated | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Dialogue | Anurag Kashyap, Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh & Sachin Ladia | Won | [31] [32] |
| Filmfare Awards | 20 January 2013 | Best Action | Sham Kaushal | Won | [31] [32] |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Film | Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1 | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Director | Anurag Kashyap | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Actor | Manoj Bajpayee | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Actress | Huma Qureshi | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Supporting Actor | Nawazuddin Siddiqui | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Supporting Actress | Reema Sen | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Performance in a Negative Role | Tigmanshu Dhulia | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Story | Zeishan Quadri | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Music Director | Sneha Khanwalkar | Nominated | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Dialogue | Anurag Kashyap, Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh & Sachin Ladia | Won | |
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 July 2013 | Best Action | Sham Kaushal | Won | |
| National Film Awards | 3 May 2013 | Best Audiography | Alok De, Sinoy Joseph & Sreejesh Nair | Won | |
| National Film Awards | 3 May 2013 | Special Jury Award | Nawazuddin Siddiqui | Won | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Film | Gangs of Wasseypur | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Director | Anurag Kashyap | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Actor | Manoj Bajpayee | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Supporting Actor | Jameel Khan | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Supporting Actress | Richa Chadda | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Female Debut | Huma Qureshi | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Villain | Tigmanshu Dhulia | Won | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Ensemble Cast | Gangs of Wasseypur | Won | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Dialogue | Anurag Kashyap, Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh & Sachin Ladia | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Editing | Shweta Venkat Matthew | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Cinematography | Rajeev Ravi | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Sound Design | Kunal Sharma, Alok De | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Production Design | Wasiq Khan | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Costume | Subodh Srivastava | Nominated | |
| Screen Awards | 12 January 2013 | Best Action | Sham Kaushal | Won | |

## Legacy

Gangs Of Wasseypur’s success led to a number of Hindi movies across the next few years that were essentially inelegant variations on the “hinterland gangsters” theme.
Quotes from the film often make their way into everyday slang and have appear in numerous films.
The film was re-released in Indian cinemas in August 2024.

## Box office

The box office records vary from source to source. The movie "did a great business at box office", according to The Guardian.
According to Box Office India, both parts combined grossed ₹69 crore (US$7.9 million), against a combined budget of ₹39 crore (US$4.5 million).