Review : Gangs of Wasseypur Part-2

Gangs of Wasseypur Part 2 is a much better crafted film than it's predecessor. It's technically sound, less confusing or convoluted than Part 1 (review here), but it fails to be as enjoyable.
The movie starts right were we left off in part 1. Without further adieu, and more importantly further exposition, we're suddenly thrust into the action. The first half is quite slow and tends to meander a lot. Things pick up considerably in the second half when shit starts blowing up.
This film suffers from not having an as magnetic protagonist as Sardar Khan was in the earlier film, and not having as many colorful characters. In the earlier film, you had characters who appeared for a mere five minutes, but they were so brilliantly written, so brilliantly acted and their scenes so brilliantly executed that their presence would linger on you long after you're out of the theater. There are not many characters like that in Part 2.
Sure, you've seen the trailers, proudly showing off colorful characters like Tanget and Perpendicular, but when you watch the film, they are not as awesome as you expected them to be.

This film, as you know, is all about Faizal Khan, the cinema-loving, murderous, and quite emotional son of Sardar Khan. I'd write a little more about the plot, but you've seen the first film, you know what the hell happens. This film is about how Faizal Khan goes from being a crybaby pot smoker to a badass who's feared by everyone in Wasseypur. That transition, however, is quite bumpy, and pretty inconsistent. The character is saved by Nawazuddin Siddiqui's magnificent performance. But, man... that Nawazuddin. He's brilliant. What sealed the deal for me as far as Faizal is concerned is how he relished each kill, how he slowly started enjoying the killing. It was just so much fun seeing him kill people.
Speaking of performances, the cast of GoW 2 is bloody amazing, but the problem is that a lot of talented people aren't offered much to do in their roles and the characters we loved in part 1 don't really have much screen time in the film. That wouldn't have been a problem if the next generation of characters were bloody awesome, but they aren't.

Faizal's bride, Mohsina (wonderfully played by the beautiful Huma Querishi) goes from being a colorful filmi character in GoW 1 and the first half of part 2, to someone who just, well, hangs around. Same goes for Perpendicular. A lot could have been done with this character, what with his mischievous demeanor and blade chewing antics, but the writers just don't exploit him to his full potential. Richa Chadda was magnificent as Nagma in part 1, and although she isn't in this film for much time, she carries the material she's been given quite wonderfully.
A lot of people get assassinated in this film, and every assassination is really well executed thanks in no small part to some extremely funny Tarantinoesque dialogue. The standout of these scenes is definitely one that takes place at the bazaar where the assassins are co-ordinating via cellphones. It's a very funny scene and it's humor is a perfect contrast to it's bloody climax.
There are a lot of scenes that build these characters, but they are ultimately fruitless. Save for Faizal and two or three other characters, nobody has a journey (or, in film making terms, character arc), so all that character building amounts to nothing but wasted time once the film's over. It's a long film, but it could have done without these scenes, awesome as they may be.
Surprisingly, it isn't Faizal who steals the show here. It's Sardar's illegitimate child, Definite, who does that. I don't want to give away much other than he's wonderfully written and played, and probably the only character with a fixed motivation.

Wasseypur is still beautiful through the lens of Rajiv Ravi, but I found myself missing the rustic-ness of Part 1. Sneha Kanwalkar's music, a mix of rustic and techno is simply brilliant (I'm still humming Kaala Re) and it works well with the film, but not as well as Part 1. They are more effective when listened on your iPod, in fact.
A friend of mine told me that this film struck him as a bunch of cool scenes that don't stick together as a film because there's just not enough glue and I couldn't agree with him more. And the same could be said about part 1, but part 1 was much more cooler, much more funnier, much more vibrant and colorful. I do realize that it's difficult to keep a film of such scope very focused, but a bit of streamlining would have helped. But is that any reason to avoid the film? Not at all.
Go watch it. It may not be a magnificent film, but it definitely is a masterclass in film making. And it's very, very fun.