GANGS OF WASSEYPUR PART 1 REVIEW

Gangs of Wasseypur starts with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and then just explodes like a bomb filled with spiny shrapnel that exudes awesome.

It is an over-the-top, funny, violent and extremely entertaining romp about three generations embroiled in a feud that started in the British colonial era. There are, like, five hundred characters and some of them share similar faces so things may get a bit confusing. You've got to keep your bheja running at the max to keep track of these characters. But once you do achieve that, there's gold to be mined from this film.
The first half is very rapid, very fast paced (which sadly, makes the second half feel a tad dull in comparison). Our protagonist's father, Shahid Khan is introduced and dealt with in a matter of twenty minutes or so. Those twenty minutes pass very briskly, and have some pretty powerful scenes.

The rest of the film focuses mainly on his son, Sardar Khan (magnificently played by Manoj Bajpai) and his quest for revenge against his father's killer Ranadhir Singh (played by director Tigmanshu Dhulia who, in my opinion, should act more). But he just doesn't want to kill him. He wants to take him down, grow a bigger empire, become a bigger man and wipe it in his face. And that's when stuff gets complicated.
Remember how awesome a character Bob Biswas from Kahaani was? This film is full of Bob Biswases. There are so many cool characters, and except for two or three, you'll miss all of them once the final reel runs dry. I doubt I've come across such a brilliant casting ensemble in an Indian film in quite some while. . Everyone's giving it their all. Especially Nawazuddin Siddiqui who plays Sardar's younger and more emotional (and more lovelorn) but equally ruthless and vengeful son Faisal Khan. He's a character you'll want to see more of, because he's just so bloody interesting. We don't see a lot of him in the film, but he's going to have a greater part to play in the sequel (which I can't wait for, by the way).

It's beautifully shot, just falling a teensy bit short of Richard Deakins levels of brilliance. Wasseypur is a sooty and dirty place, but cinematographer Rajiv Ravi paints it with such madness that it looks disgustingly beautiful.
Sneha Kanwalkar's music is just... genius. No other way to put it. I know our music reviewer had some problem with it, but I loved it and so did the other people in the theater. A lot has been said about it already, so all I'll say here is that it's just beautiful music. And thankfully it's free of itum naambars that our Bollywood producers and the Rowdy Rathore audience keep clamoring for.
Gangs of Wasseypur is so long, but not a minute is wasted. It's just such a vast, meaty film. It's such a big film. But sometimes, there's just too much happening and stuff just becomes incomprehensible. If you aren't the type who keeps their brain while entering the theater, it won't be long before you lose track of those 300 or so characters and you'll be left grasping in the air trying to understand stuff. If it weren't for the awesome dialogue, brilliant acting and spectacular direction by Anurag Kashyap (probably the best Hindi film director alive at the moment) it would have been too complex to be enjoyable.
The best thing about this film is that it has content as well as entertainment value. There's something in there for the art-house snobs, for the film lovers as well as the Housefull or Golmaal crowd that just goes in for something called "time pass".

Paan Singh Tomar, Kahaani, Shanghai and now this. It's a good year for Indian Cinema. 
"So... should I watch this film?"
If you can handle a little bit of gore, my answer is a loud and gleeful

PS : Wait after the credits are over for the trailer of Gangs of Wasseypur part II which looks even better than this one!