Gangs of Wasseypur

[ravenus]

Saw the first installment last night. Had a very good beginning (it was like a grittier modern day Deewaar adaptation) and several stray good elements, a lot of texture and good performances, but I am sorry to say this one stretches out to more than 2.5 hours (and similar amount for the sequel I assume) because of lack of dramatic focus and a deliberate desire on Anurag Kashyap's part to make a sprawling film regardless of whether or not he has the screenplay worthy of that running time. Large stretches where it feels more like Desperate Housewives of Wasseypur.

[Anurag1700]

I watched this last night with a hall full of people.

A rock solid pre-credits begining clearly tells u it is an AK film by all means. (And this also includes the pre-film anti smoking message as well, spoken in pure hindi, pronounced so authentically by bajpayee i doubt anyone can forget it.) However once the film goes into flashback after credits, almost all through the rest of the film, I found Anurag going too conventional for his own set standards, bringing the narrative on the lines of any typical revenge saga, the most recent one being paan singh tomar, though i must say this film's scale, scope and complication level is way higher than paan singh as there are very interesting and multiple layers of relationships, between religions, within the same religion, within one's own family, within the same business spanned over decades in post independece era, portrayed in a manner which makes everything and everyone seem ultra real and worth the wait to invest yourself in the story.

What i did not like was the focus on romantic parts, all seeming to feel like a mainstream director's 'balancing act' technique to bring a mix of rom-com and action. Clearly this one is missing the daredevilry for being the 'super unconventional' that anurag is best known for. However I must admit, from a mass audience point of view, these parts make the film rather enjoyable and so the film should work for everyone. Songs are brilliantly composed in the right mood and do not hamper narrative at all. I didnt find the gore or language or violence that disturbing as the marketing is making them out to be. I felt i have seen it worse in other indian films before. All the supporting actors really seemed to be an inseparable part of the film and it is truly applaud worthy that not for a single minute I felt any disconnect from the make-believe. No actor came across even the slightest more or less than his/her character sketch.

All said, if there is clearly one big reason standing out in this over-long film to be seen - It is Manoj bajpayee. Every actor gets one role in their lifetime that they are born to play- and this is Manoj's vehicle - every nuance of his characterisation, his unpredictable moods for different scenes, every expression in his performance is so impressive that I really dont see any other in the industry actor as fit for this role as he does. Its a towering performance.

[Harvey Dent]

Since this is a Viacom 18 release , I assume Shemaroo will release the blu ray in India. I can already see lots of guys tearing their hair out in frustration

[ravenus]

A hilarious opinion a friend wrote about GoW - HERE (It's on Facebook, but it's a public note, so if you have an FB account you should be able to see it)

[DaemonAngel]

Whats this bollywood fascination for English titles?? Is the overseas/english speaking desi market so out-numbering the local??? I for one simply hate this overload of english titles!

[sanjay0864]

Originally Posted by Harvey Dent

Since this is a Viacom 18 release , I assume Shemaroo will release the blu ray in India. I can already see lots of guys tearing their hair out in frustration

Oh no, not again. Somehow all the movies that I really care for, end up with Shamearoo. I suppose it's time I learned to enjoy the Sajid Khan genre of movies.

Originally Posted by DaemonAngel

Whats this bollywood fascination for English titles?? Is the overseas/english speaking desi market so out-numbering the local??? I for one simply hate this overload of english titles!

Actually it's not just bollywood. The current generation in general seems to have a preference for using English words where there is absolutely no need. Even common fruits are no longer referred to with their Indian names and even while speaking in Hindi, people will say 'apple' instead of 'सेब' or 'mango' instead of 'आम'.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by DaemonAngel

Whats this bollywood fascination for English titles?? Is the overseas/english speaking desi market so out-numbering the local??? I for one simply hate this overload of english titles!

GoW was always built with an international festival audience in mind so I'd hardly fault them for it. Obviously the intent was to resonate with the Gangs of New York title.

In general a title should aim to be crisp and easily understandable and have a catchy ring to it, and sometimes it may happen that an English title may do that job better than an Indian language title. Also for most people not living in the northern India belt, the knowledge of Hindi is superficial/broken, and they may understand a crisp English/Hinglish title better than a crisp pure Hindi title.

@DaemonAngel: I have a question, if you had to represent the same title in Hindi, what would you call it?

[nitin]

hmm, this sounds like your typical AK movie, with all the pluses and minuses that entails.

[zombeaner]

Originally Posted by ravenus

GoW was always built with an international festival audience in mind so I'd hardly fault them for it. Obviously the intent was to resonate with the Gangs of New York title.

In general a title should aim to be crisp and easily understandable and have a catchy ring to it, and sometimes it may happen that an English title may do that job better than an Indian language title. Also for most people not living in the northern India belt, the knowledge of Hindi is superficial/broken, and they may understand a crisp English/Hinglish title better than a crisp pure Hindi title.

@DaemonAngel: I have a question, if you had to represent the same title in Hindi, what would you call it?

For what it's worth, almost all of the promotional material on GoW has Wasseypur displayed in devanagri rather than Romanized characters. I'm extremely pissed off that Viacom18 made no plans for a US release with this film, I know many people here, including me, who are chomping at the bit to see it.

[bugsnest]

Originally Posted by zombeaner

I'm extremely pissed off that Viacom18 made no plans for a US release with this film, I know many people here, including me, who are chomping at the bit to see it.

Man, I'm in the same boat as you! I called the Reliance BIG theatre in Chicago to ask if they would be getting this anytime soon and the guy on the phone had no clue what this film was (he initially thought I was on crack when I told him the title!)

If anyone has any good info on a US release then please post here. Where's Roger Ebert when you really need him??!!

[DaemonAngel]

Originally Posted by ravenus

@DaemonAngel: I have a question, if you had to represent the same title in Hindi, what would you call it?

I am pretty sure you are not asking me to translate - so, having not seen the film, I cant tell you what might be apt for this movie. But I am sure there can be an appropriate Hindi title even if its an exact translation.

Besides, my comment was a general one not specific to this movie. Since 2007 or so I have noticed English titles have out numbered Hindi titles or so it feels. Lot more English in dialogues too. Dont get me wrong, I am not against the "English" language but I feel the industry is drifting ever so slowly away from the language since they adopted the term "bollywood". FYI - Hindi is not my first language but I learned it since I was 5 so I do consider myself relatively fluent in it. No doubt, I'd like to hear more Hindi in Hindi movies starting with the titles!

[bugsnest]

Originally Posted by DaemonAngel

I am pretty sure you are not asking me to translate - so, having not seen the film, I cant tell you what might be apt for this movie. But I am sure there can be an appropriate Hindi title even if its an exact translation.

Besides, my comment was a general one not specific to this movie. Since 2007 or so I have noticed English titles have out numbered Hindi titles or so it feels like. Lot more English in dialogues too. Dont get me wrong, I am not against the "English" language but I feel the industry is drifting ever so slowly away from the language since they adopted the term "bollywood". FYI - Hindi is not my first language but I learned it since I was 5 so I do consider myself relatively fluent in it. No doubt, I'd like to hear more Hindi in Hindi movies starting with the titles!

I consider myself fluent in Hindi but for the life of me cannot come up with the Hindi equivalent of the word "gang". So I guess if the equivalent word is lost on about 80% of the movie going population then one is better off keeping the title in English.

Funnily the word for "television" in Hindi is "door-chitra-vanee". But even a villager in the Hindi speaking belt would call it by it's universal name - TV

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by DaemonAngel

Since 2007 or so I have noticed English titles have out numbered Hindi titles or so it feels. Lot more English in dialogues too. Dont get me wrong, I am not against the "English" language but I feel the industry is drifting ever so slowly away from the language since they adopted the term "bollywood".

Blame that on the arrival of all these beauty queens / bodybuilders and assorted star kids that can't even speak good Hindi in a fluent way. People are only interested in the shape of Katrina's lips than what emerges when she opens them to speak.

[Anurag1700]

Originally Posted by ravenus

People are only interested in the shape of Katrina's lips than what emerges when she opens them to speak.

Bang on!! Since the day i have seen this so called 'actress' first , I have been saying exactly the same line...u stole my words.

[raSpberRy]

Gangs of Wasseypur has gathered approx 17 Cr. so far.
I think final gross will be 23-25 Cr.

[cinefan indian]

Originally Posted by Anurag1700

Bang on!! Since the day i have seen this so called 'actress' first , I have been saying exactly the same line...u stole my words.

haha infact what came out of her lips would be someone else' voice in her initial Hindi films

[cinefan indian]

Originally Posted by bugsnest

I consider myself fluent in Hindi but for the life of me cannot come up with the Hindi equivalent of the word "gang". So I guess if the equivalent word is lost on about 80% of the movie going population then one is better off keeping the title in English.

Funnily the word for "television" in Hindi is "door-chitra-vanee". But even a villager in the Hindi speaking belt would call it by it's universal name - TV

Gangs of Wasseypur - वास्सेय्पुर के गिरोह (Wasseypur Ke Giroh)

[ravenus]

I doubt if you would find even one in ten people outside of the UP-MP region that would know Giroh better than Gang.

[divyansh]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I doubt if you would find even one in ten people outside of the UP-MP region that would know Giroh better than Gang.

i've heard this GIROH word quite often in news channels. i do recognize it.

[cinefan indian]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I doubt if you would find even one in ten people outside of the UP-MP region that would know Giroh better than Gang.

Kya sir! like divyansh replied! anyways this option then -

वास्सेय्पुर की टोलियाँ