Gangs of Wasseypur

Let me indulge in a few truisms. Yes, this is one of the greatest Hindi films of our generation and definitely Kashyap's best work after No Smoking. 'Godfather meets Park Chan Wook' will be an unfair tag, and so will be to draw parallels with Tarantino or any other global contemporaries. This magnum opus is SO Indian, and only the genius of Anurag Kashyap could deliver an uninhibited, arrogant, dark, brutal, savage, larger-than-life revenge drama, taken to dizzying heights of cinematic brilliance that induces extreme emotional orgasm. No conscience-talks, no unnecessary moralizing. The screenplay by Zeishan Quadri is a knockout as it successfully merges history with fiction, beautifully captures the socio-political fabric of rustic India with a historical commentary which provides more authenticity to the script. The humour is out-of-the-world loud and bloody brilliant, expletives galore - unabashed, unapologetic. Rajiv Ravi's camera work is the best I've seen in Indian Cinema in a long, long time and sets a benchmark difficult to emulate. Sneha Khanwalkar’s background score is a killer and the songs often add to the narrative. Now, coming to the actors - all of them deliver outstanding and stellar performances. The intensity of Jaideep Ahlawat, subtlety of Piyush Misra and flamboyance of Pankaj Tripathi are pitch perfect; the female characters sparkle amidst the male brigade with the feisty Richa Chadda and sensuous Reema Sen; Tigmanshu Dhulia makes a spectacular debut. However, everyone is overshadowed by the pothead-turned-Michael Corleone Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Manoj Bajpai is reborn. As Rajeev Masand says - "It's difficult to separate the actor from the character." With a single-minded unmitigated and unflinching determination for vengeance, his quirky humour, lecherous glances, penchant for the theatrical grandiose - he's the driving force of this film.