# Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2

Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language epic black comedy crime film co-written, produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap. It is the second part of the movie Gangs of Wasseypur, centered on the coal mafia of Dhanbad, Jharkhand and the underlying power struggles, and dynamics of politics and vengeance between three crime families. Part 2 features an ensemble cast with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Manoj Bajpayee, Richa Chadda, Huma Qureshi, Reema Sen, Piyush Mishra, Pankaj Tripathi, Zeishan Quadri, Rajkumar Rao and Tigmanshu Dhulia in major roles. Its story spans from the 1990s to 2009.
Both parts were originally shot as a 319-minute single film and screened at the 2012 Cannes Directors' Fortnight but since no Indian theatre would volunteer to screen a five plus hour movie, it was divided into two parts (160 mins and 159 mins respectively) for the Indian market.
The film received an Adults Only certification from the Indian Censor Board and is unusually explicit for Indian standards in both language and violence. The film's soundtrack is heavily influenced by traditional Indian folk songs tending to be philosophical and liberal with its heavy use of sexual innuendos. Part 2 was released on 8 August 2012 across India and had some paid previews on 7 August 2012.
Both parts of the film were acclaimed by the critics upon release. The combined film won the Best Audiography, Re-recordist's of the Final Mixed Track (Alok De, Sinoy Joseph and Shreejesh Nair) and Special Mention for acting (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) at the 60th National Film Awards. The film won four Filmfare Awards, including Best Film (Critics) and Best Actress (Critics), at the 58th Filmfare Awards. The individual film was declared flop at box-office. Although not a huge hit by any financial standard, the meagre combined budget of ₹18.5 crore allowed the 2 films to be cumulatively commercially successful, with net domestic earnings of ₹50.81 crore (of the 2 parts combined). It is regarded by many as a modern cult film.

## Plot

At the end of Part I, Sultan Qureshi has 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 Bhagalpur 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.

## Cast

* Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Faizal Khan
* Manoj Bajpayee as Sardar Khan (cameo appearance)
* Richa Chadda as Nagma Khatoon: Sardar's first widow; Danish, Faizal and Perpendicular's mother; Shama and Mohsina's mother-in-law; Feroz's grandmother.
* Huma Qureshi as Mohsina Hamid: Faizal's wife; Feroz's mother; Sardar and Nagma's daughter in law; Danish, Perpendicular, Shama's sister-in-law
* Reema Sen as Durga 'Bangalan' Khan: Sardar's second widow; Definite's mother; Danish, Faizal, Perpendicular's stepmother.
* Sanjay Singh as Fazlu (Faizal's friend)
* Anurita Jha as Shama Parveen: Sultan's cousin; Danish's wife; Sardar and Nagma's daughter-in-law.
* Piyush Mishra as Nasir Ahmed
* Jameel Khan as Asgar Khan
* Vineet Kumar Singh as Danish Khan
* Pankaj Tripathi as Sultan Qureshi
* Satyakam Anand as J P Singh
* Murari Kumar as Guddu
* Gaurav Sharma as Iqlakh
* Faisal Malik as Inspector Gopal Singh
* Sankalp Acharekar as "Tangent"
* Rajkumar Rao as Shamshad Alam
* Mukesh Chhabra as Nawab (Shamshad's Partner)
* Zeishan Quadri as Definite Khan: Sardar and Durga's son; Danish, Faizal and Perpendicular's half-brother
* Aditya Kumar as Babu "Perpendicular" Khan
* Tigmanshu Dhulia as Ramadhir Singh
* Yashpal Sharma as Occasional Singer (Guest Appearance)
* Ishtiyaq Anas (Akram Ishtiyaq) as Munna Sultan gang member
* Pramod Pathak as Badoor Qureshi
* Vasan Bala as School teacher in Song Bahut Khoob

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack album of the two-part compilation of Gangs of Wasseypur has a whopping 27 songs, which are composed by Sneha Khanwalkar and Piyush Mishra, with lyrics by Mishra and Varun Grover. However, the album was split up according to the film's release. The film score is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar. Part-2 has 13 songs which were released on 11 July 2012.

## Marketing

The Gangs of Wasseypur franchise promoted a fake electoral campaign through the streets of Mumbai and Delhi 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 Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 shot with the cast of Afsar Bitiya. Actors Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Faisal Khan) and Huma Qureshi (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.

## Reception
### Critical response
#### India

Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 received mostly positive reviews.
Mayank Shekhar rated the movie 4/5 stars on Dainik Bhaskar 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 PlanetBollywood.com 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."
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the movie 4/5 stars, saying that "On the whole, Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 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 NDTV 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 Gangs of Wasseypur, there is no reason why won't have another blast watching Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2. But be warned: be sure that your stomach for blood and gore doesn't give way."
Blessy Chettiar of DNA India 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 The Times of India 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 Zee News gave the movie 4/5 stars, concluding that "While watching 'Wasseypur', the entire film takes your life away! Gangs of Wasseypur 2 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 Rediff gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, stating that "Anurag Kashyap shines once again in the concluding part of Gangs of Wasseypur 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 – Gangs of Wasseypur II provides enough cinematic memorabilia to single-handedly last us the summer."

#### International

International critics have given Gangs of Wasseypur, 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. Gangs of Wasseypur premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival on the evening of 22 May 2012 as the most highly anticipated Indian film. Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter 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 "Gangs of Wasseypur puts Tarantino in a corner with its cool command of cinematically inspired and referenced violence, ironic characters and breathless pace".
Maggie Lee of Variety 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 Screen International 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.

### Box office

Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 collected ₹15.44 crore in the first weekend and ₹17.80 crore by end of first week. Film ended with a total collection of ₹22.04 crore.

## Differences from actual events

The film mainly draws its story from the real life gang wars that took place in the Dhanbad area. There are several events in the film which differ from the actual documented events. The character of Faizal Khan, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, dies in the climax. The character is based on Fahim Khan, who was not killed but is currently in jail in Hazaribagh and has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The character of Ramadhir Singh is based on Surajdeo Singh. 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's friend Fazlu is based on Sabir Alam. In the film, Fazlu is killed and decapitated by Faizal Khan. In real life, Sabir Alam and Fahim Khan were childhood friends turned enemies. Sabir was awarded the life sentence in 2007 for the murder of Fahim Khan's mother and aunt, and is currently out on bail in Wasseypur.
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.