ANURAG KASHYAP'S BLOOD-SAGA: GANGS OF WASSEYPUR- Part I

So I have to plunge back to one of my dearest place for erupting cinematic emotions. Long time since my last post on Ghost Writer. I tried writing on various movies but stopped midway not satisfied enough. But then I saw something cinematic-excellence and classy yet equally commercially viable and that too with international appeal.

This last weekend I managed to watch Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur in theatre with my friend and got the motivation to write a post on that. I will not just focus on the film but Anurag's impact on its making too. After a long thought on banking upon a bucket of new generation Directors to trust for quality cinema, finally I have found my pick of all - Anurag Kashyap. I was impressed by works of Vishal Bharadwaj, Imtiaz Ali, Dibakar Banerjee, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sriram Raghavan, Vikramaditya Motwane apart from Anurag. But they all are good friends and compliments each other in their respective art fields. In fact in Anurag kashyap's own words he use to send his first-cut to last-cut draft of film to all these filmmakers for their take on the finished product, and then he readily accepts their views and opinions also, if he likes. I must say, After reading about this man, watching his interviews, seeing his past works, I can't stop myself from being his admirer, not just admirer but a follower also. This lad has given us films like Dev D, Gulaal, Black Friday & Udaan. All of them has Anurag Kashyap-trademark on them. In his career, he wrote movies like Satya, Shool, Kaun and Academy Award-nominated Water.

Whether it's Vishal Bharadwaj or Anurag Kashyap, both industry-friends has broken traditional norms of Bollywood and create a niche for themselves. Their choice of subjects and dealing the subjects with pure honesty has won them the hearts of millions. They're creating a great portfolio of films in their kitty year-after year. Initially I used to be confused between Anurag & Vishal to choose as my personal favorite in modern times, but after his new release Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag has put an end to all my queries. GOW is doing well in India, has got critically acclaimed well, getting a rating of 9.1/10 in prestigious IMDB. It has been chosen to screened in Cannes as well and was well-appreciated inspite of his lengthy duration of 5 hours 20 minutes. 

Talking about Gangs Of Wasseypur, It's a great saga of revenge, blood-bath and animosity. The story is inspired from true events of Wasseypur region of Dhanbad in Bihar, it deals with the coal & scrap trade mafia. It's filled with gory sequences and a mix of slang-wit bihari style. So there are dark violent scenes but still you'll be given a situation to laugh and giggle upon.

Movie starts with Present-day prologue where Smriti Irani scene of Kyunki Saas..(KSBKBT) opening title-song on TV was airing, which after few minutes get blasted by a bullet, Sultan Qureshi with his gunmen wage a war upon the house of Sardar Khan where aged Farhan ( Piyush Mishra) with the family was inside. They had covered the house from all side and were shooting ferociously to kill each and every living creature inside the house. Finally Sultan called to confirm if anybody's picking the call. When there is no response form inside, they fleed. And story went back to the days of Sultana Daaku in 1941.

Sultana Daaku was Qureshi, Shahid Khan a non-Qureshi muslim of the village impersonates Sultana Daku and started looting grains from trains passing by Wasseypur. And then he used to sell the same in cheaper price than Qureshis. Soon Sultana got to know about the same and he killed all the Shahid-men, and Shahid on insistence of his pregnant wife fled to city where he started working as labour in coal mine. He started working in Ramadhir Singh's mines. One day when a guard stopped him from reaching to his wife in pain of blocked child, he warned the guard that he will dig his grave if his wife or child will be in danger. Ramadhir Singh, an influential owner of the mines let him go to his wife ordering the guard to open the gates. But it was too late as his wife passed away giving birth to his son Sardar Khan. He went back and thrashed that guard till death in a gruesome one-on-one fight. There Ramadhir again saw the courage of Shahid Khan and he made him his henchman for handling the mine-workers. But Ramadhir Singh ordered his killing when one day he heard Shahid Khan's ambition of killing Ramadhir Singh to become the undisputed king of coal mines.

Child Sardar Khan got to know from his uncle Farhan that his father was killed by Ramadhir's men as they got Umbrella of Ramadhir Singh out side their house on the day of Shahid's death. He vows to be bald till he thrash the ego of Ramadhir Singh in a trademark words - Keh Ke Lunga, (I'll tell him, and then snatch his dignity). He started as a driver working for MLA-turned Ramadhir Singh grown-empire of coal and scrap trade business. He started hitting nails to Ramadhir's every wound, first fuel, then forced ownership on his land. In a memorable scene, he slapped and insult both Ramadhir & his son in front of the ACP in police station, asking the commissioner how much he will be sentenced for slapping Minister's son in police station. 

He marked his ambition in Jail as an undisputed kingpin of the area, quoting " Sardar Khan naam hai mera, bata dijiyega sabko". He led a carnage of killings for not just Ramadhir's men but even Qureshis of Wasseypur. In the meantime he also took time for his lusty activities in brothels where he get caught red-handed by his wife Nagma, played beautifully by Richa Chaddha. Soon he also feed his lust with a bengali girl Durga whom he married soon. His family was breaking, his sons, specifically Faizal (Nawajuddin Siddiqui) had traumatic childhood seeing his mother wailing and getting closer to his uncle Farhan. He soon divulge into Drugs and smoking, but also imitates Amitabh bachchan due to the fact that his crush Mohsina (Huma Qureshi) was a huge fan of Bachchan. 

Time to time, Sardar Khan establish the fact keh-ke-lunga to Ramadhir Singh in various occasions. Once he carried a band outside his home and insulted him publicly on account of a girl of his area got kidnapped by four guys of his pace. The Band played 80s popular Kasam-paida-karne-wale-ki along with some-real hilarious dancing. Once when his son got injured by Ramadhir's men. He again looted Ramadhir's dignity by breaking every part of Ramadhir's car in fron of him. Ramadhir was disturbed by the repeated attacks on his dignity while Sardar Khan also destroyed the rule of Qureshis in Wasseypur waging a war of bombs and desi-kattas on butcher Qureshis who were not accustomed to modern weapons. He killed many Qureshis, burnt many houses, Sultan Qureshi turned thirsty of Sardar khan's blood. And Ramadhir used this venomous bonding of the duo to great advantage. Now he'd employed Sultan to take on Sardar Khan. The characters are so well-written by Anurag, it feels like an epic drama.

The Film ended with Sardar Khan attacked by Sultan and his men gunning down his car to the pieces. Sardar Khan was showed rising up again soaked in blood and gun in his hand to justify the background song, Jiyo hi Bihari ke lala, ....Film first part ended here turning viewers thirsty for more. This film as critics said demand complete attention and can be seen multiple times to explore the nuances of characterizations and plotting of Director. A great effort from Kashyap and his crew especially Manoj Bajpai and Tigmanshu Dhulia donning their roles perfectly. Eagerly waiting for release of second part when as people are saying Nawazuddin Siddiqui would take the front like Michael Corleone in Godfather.

The scenes in the movie are made so real, that it gives you the feeling of watching reality of Bihari terrain through window pane. Infact, Anurag kashyap didn't gave the scripts to many actors involved in the movie till the very last moment in order to generate their natural emotions. I will discuss two scenes in particular, one where Sardar Khan(Manoj Bajpai) is trying to kill one of the Qureshis with knife, that scene has been shown so real where Manoj Bajpai actually got tired of Stabbing him, mowing down him with his jeep to ensure that he's dead or still alive. Another scene where Sultan visits Ramadhir Singh's home and Ramadhir tries to be courteous by offering him to sit with him, and not on floor, which was strange for a MLA from Bihar. But when he asked his mother to arrange lunch for Sultan also, She asked whether to use those Bone china utensil for him, and Ramadhir rotate his head in a shrugging approval. So real, I mean no director can came that close to face the reality. I hope you all have understood the point.

Music score of the movie is equally innovative courtesy the current youth sensation Sneha Khanvilkar globetrotting ways of creating music like her MTV show Sound Tripping. This girl has talent, infact She & Amit Trivedi(Dev D & Udaan fame) together holds the potential of carrying A.R Rehman innovative compositions legacy forward. My favorite tracks from the movie were Keh Ke Lunga & Womaniya. 

Anurag Kashyap has did it again, he has silenced his critics again. I'm also eager for his upcoming co-production with Danny Boyle - Bombay Velvet & his dream project Raj-comics character DOGA.

DEEWAAR - I'LL DIE FOR MY MAMA !

Deewaar, a movie who was an inspiration behind popularly known Slumdog Millionaire, Two brothers story. One running behind wealth, other honest and truthful. Infact Danny Boyle, the director of Slumdog, said that Deewaar is the absolutely key to Indian Cinema. And a movie with the same old formula of rags-to-riches though triumphed in the recession-prone western globe. But this Yash Copra-directed movie was a bigger and more deeper movie than the Slumdog any day. 

 

Deewaar is lesser the duel between two brothers, but it's more about the mother-son relationship and the clash of the practicality & idealism. And when it was released in overseas, it bear the title 'I'll Die for My Mama', which clearly justified the intent of this artwork, though a bit far-fetched and obscure for western audience. It was a phenomenal ground-breaking movie. It was way ahead of its time with superb and intense acting by one & all. And apart from script, the screenplay & dialogue were impeccable. No doubt Salim-Javed raised the value of script-writer at that period. Infact they were paid as high as the film heroes in their coming ventures.

Movie starts in a flashback. Two brothers, Vijay(Amitabh Bachchan) & Ravi Verma(Shashi Kapoor) had a tough and testing childhood. Their father who was a trade unionist got betrayed by the management of firm, and had to runaway from the infamous workers deal he was compelled to sign due to the blackmailing of  corrupt businessman, who threatens to kill his family. He left his home due to shame after saving his family. But his acts became a deep wound in the heart of little Vijay when some angry workers who branded Vijay arms with words "My Father is a Thief". The family had to struggle on the streets of Mumbai afterwards. His wife has to do labor work under the lusty and exploited eyes of skyscrapers. Vijay use to counter not just every abuse against her mother, but he toiled hard to make his brother Ravi schooling done. He started as shoe-polishing young boy with a great self-pride. Who can forget the popular scene "Mai Phenke Hue Paise nahi uthata"(I don't pick thrown money). As they grew up, Vijay started working on ship dockyard and Ravi became a jobless well-qualified young man. Both of the brother faced different realities, they read different books of life. While Ravi school books taught him truth & idealism, Vijay's life-book was about the mad race to survive, it was about survival of fittest. And he gain power & rose to become the smuggler king-pin Dhabar Seth right-hand. Infact, he gain full hold of gang with his clever trickster-ship with Samant gang. He escaped death several times due to his dockyard days badge 786. 

Two epic scenes in his rising days were, one when he accept the offer of Dhabar Seth imagining his mother hardships, and the other when Dhabar Seth introduced childhood polisher truth to Jaichand. But then Ravi became Police inspector and Vijay forehead got more tenser lines. And finally the brother duel of truth-false, ethical-unethical started. The power of raising weapon against his own brother seems inspired from Geeta, Ravi felt helpless like Arjuna who has to fight his brothers. But he got the wisdom in form of a poor school teacher whose child got hurt from his bullet. He decided to take the case of Vijay Verma & Dhabar Seth. The popular signature scene still holds large eye-attention in different stage & stand up acts till date. Ravi left the Vijay's home with his mother. Vijay became alone and find solace in arms of Anita (Parveen Babi), a dancer he met in a bar. Ravi Verma became an intelligent and arduous police officer, and once he caught hold of 7-8 men of Dhabar with all consignment. And then Vijay's gang member demanded Ravi Verma's death, unknowingly pinching Vijay's brotherly heart. Vijay tried to convince Ravi to take transfer from the city with yet another iconic scene " Mere Paas Maa Hai", probably one of the most classy scene in history of Indian cinema. Vijay was misunderstood by every dear & near one except Anita. As Anita rightly described, Vijay was feeling down. First his brother left him, his mother got angry on him, his father found dead, and then his mother also get hospitalised which made him enter into his No-Go zone -Temple. He was about to abandon underworld & marry the pregnant Anita, when she got killed by Samant. Vijay took revenge from Samant and his people. 

One of the other iconic scene of the movie was beautifully shot temple scene. "Aaj Khush to bahut hoge tum" is remembered by one & all. After the final clash between the brothers, Vijay breath his last in his mother lap asking for forgiveness, while Ravi get awarded for pursuing justice. But the mere essence of the movie is the intense love for mother. Vijay did everything for his mother. He chose the wrong path but to make his mother and family happy. And he finally died for his mother. One scene in particular, which gives me goose-bumps every time I watch it, when Vijay bought the building as a gift for her mother, where she had once lifted bricks. Mother played an integral part in Salim-Javed written scripts. And Amitabh Bachchan established himself as the angry-young man of bollywood after this 70s blockbuster. The movie sweeps Six Filmfare awards except just one, Best Actor in Leading Role for which Amitabh was nominated. Surprisingly, his critically acclaimed role was left un-awarded while everybody attached with this film won numerous awards.

This movie can really move anyone who is as attached to his mother as Vijay, I felt his pain, his struggles, his fight for- not right or wrong, but just one thing- MAA ! 

SPIRITUAL ADIEU TO FAME & STARDOM- VINOD KHANNA

Recently we've been surrounded by the several creative works imbibed with the cults of 70s & 80s, trend started from Om Shanti Om, Action Replay till Dirty Picture, to name the few. We've also witnessed the avalanche of remakes one after another, some inspiration, dedication and some tribulations (Like Aag) as well. But there has been a common unsaid creative pact made within the film making fraternity, to inject a feel of retro, whether in the scripts, locations, actors, styles of yesteryears art of celluloid. Its a common phenomenon these days.

Within these Cult-books of 70s era, Vinod Khanna was a chapter which is one of the most popular & the most incomplete chapter. His some of the popular recent mention in the cinema being- Abhay Deol character in 'Oye Lucky Lucky Oye' who use to flaunt himself in Vinod Khanna style, even the film starts with Vinod Khanna song, 'Chahiye Thoda Pyaar..Thoda Pyar Chahiye' (Movie: Lahu Ke Do Rang). Apart from that, I like the recent trailer of much-awaited Saif thriller, Agent Vinod, in which to hide his identity he call himself as Vinod....Vinod Khanna.

This is a well-known fact that he was the most stylish superstar of that era, and probably the only one to give neck-to-neck competition to the Ruler of 70s, Amitabh Bachchan. Some even says that he had literally overtook Amitabh in every sense when he suddenly took the retirement from the films and bollywood at the peak of his career. He became a strict follower of spiritual leader Rajaneesh (OSHO) and left the industry in form of self-imposed exile to live in Rajaneeshpuram city in Antelope, Oregon area of America. And thus, after Rajesh Khanna's end of stardom, the only threat for the numero uno status to Amitabh lost forever in the garb of spiritual inclinations.

And Vinod Khanna not just gambled his career, but even his family & friends on his way to experience the spiritual transformation and quest of inner peace. Infact, nobody knew what he did in his 8 years of time spent in Rajaneeshpuram City. Then he returned after a decade to join the bollywood again, and started his second inning, while his marriage was on the rocks until his divorce. Then he got married again 1990 & then further became an MP in late 90s. But his charisma, charm & tough exterior always won the hearts of the audience. Even though he had many self-imposed exiles on himself, but he maintained his royal-ness and turned more spiritual & intellectual personally, as shown by him in various interviews. He's now serving as MP of Gurdaspur constituency. He was always called as an elusive star with a rebel attitude, he always followed what he believed in, once he made up his mind it was hard to refrain him from doing it.

I can relate with his inclinations of exile as even I had once made my mind to have this experience of peace and self-introduction, though I was comparitively young and not even a successful superstar. And I got counseled by my annoyed friends & colleagues about the futility of that action on my own life and my family. I myself gave it a thought and found it quite amateurish in nature. I found that inner salvation can be experienced by doing one's Karma in the most genuine way and by following one's duties towards Self, family & society. Though I'm still in this diverged pathways, analyzing my path between the two. I found my father remarks so useful, that First show that you can gain, then express your desire to renounce. When there is nothing what you have attained in life, nothing you've enjoyed, How you can feel the pain or joy of losing it for spiritual or delusion sake. I liked the idea, and it helped me a lot. Even in my doing MBA & later job, as I at least proved my family, my father in particular, that I have some capability.

But coming back to Vinod Khanna, I would have wished he must have continued his career, the heights of oneness and peace can be attained in your chosen trade too, like A.R Rehman, I think he always connect to the one while composing or producing music. Same way I feel for Tendulkar in cricket. So achieving the oneness in Karma can be a better notion then exile. But god knows what was best for him. As post-emergency quality of cinema hindered seriously when films sole motive became gaining money whether by vulgarity, plagriasm or some household daily-soaps type movies for VCR generation. And later after his exile he too joined that third class cinema bandwagon saying NO to his guru Rajaneesh for handling Pune Ashram of OSHO.

But anyways Salute to his courage & conviction of sacrificing his all for his purpose & vision. That was surely not for publicity sake like many others. He had paid a great price for that decision both personally & professionally. He might have actually became the Superstar of the millennium instead of Mr Big B, But who knows if that would have mattered to him or his inner peace eventually. He would always be remembered as a great actor & star of bollywood despite all the drama underlying his life story.

AGNEEPATH ! AGNEEPATH ! AGNEEPATH !

Say Hello to my little friend ! Tony Montana !

No, I don't mean that Agneepath was a copy of Al Pacino's Scarface at all. But yes, one do tend to compare the style and mannerism of both iconic stars Al Pacino & Amitabh. In fact Scarface is one hell of gangsta movie which started a trend which continues since its release to the launch of GTA Vice City game. No Scarface, No Agneepath, No GTA Vice City. But hey, you must be thinking, why I'm talking about Old Agneepath, when new remake has broken all record in collections whether domestic or Overseas. But unfortunately I didn't felt connected with new one, It was a nice effort, nice tribute. That's it !

No I'm not discarding the new one completely, I liked the picturization of Harivansh Rai Bachchan poem in movie both times, when Vijay father is reciting it to him, and when Vijay is reciting the same to Kancha Cheena while killing him.

So, in short, I just Like the poem in the new one, nothing else!

The new one didn't enticed me enough to grab the retention plot of my memory even though I watched it recently. The old one even with some imperfections, were able enough to grab the mind space of mine.

Like thousands other people, even I still remember the old movie Vijay Deenanath Chauhan Introduction in police station, and many other scenes. The new one was flooded with fresh faces and fresh make-up, but no soul. Still I would say It was better than some of the other crappy remakes. 

But why they do not think logically while scripting remakes or presenting old wine in new bottle.

In the old one Vijay character was larger than life, this time antagonist Kancha & newly-included Rauf Lala were portrayed in larger than life manner. 

Name Kancha Cheena & character suited Danny more than Sanjay Dutt, no guesses on that.

Apart from get-up & look, Sanjay had little to experiment with Kancha, but he did a decent job in spite of some exaggeration here and there. His toying with Gita shlokas and demonly wisdom was good though.But that was the character fault, he was no more human like old movie Kancha Cheena, now he was demon. 

A/c to me, Background score plays a vital role in fueling the scenes, and old Agneepath background score was just AWESOME. Even though it was lifted from Jean Michel Jarre - Second Rendez-Vous (Part II), Type the same in YouTube and see for yourself. But I dont care from where it came from, but was suiting Amitabh sequences & style so well. 

The Old one was tribute to Harivansh Rai Bachchan poem, the new one was tribute to old Agneepath, but no Agneepath can be dreamt without the iconic poem itself. I've fallen in love with the poem so precise, so short and so deep in meaning. Hats off to Mr Harivansh Rai, he was my second best Hindi poet after Ram Dhari Singh Dinkar. This post cannot end without the mere essence of the movie - Path of Fire, the poem:-

Vriksh ho bhale khade

Ho Ghane Ho badhe

Ek Patra Chhao bhi 

Mang Mat Mang Mat Mang Mat !

Agneepath ! Agneepath ! Agneepath !

Tu Naa Thakega kabhi

Tu Naa Thamega kabhi

Tu Naa Mudega kabhi

Kar Shapath Kar Shapath Kar Shapath

Agneepath ! Agneepath ! Agneepath !

Yeh Mahaan Drishya Hai 

Chal Raha Manushya hai

Ashru Sved Rakt se 

Lath Path Lath Path Lath Path

Agneepath ! Agneepath ! Agneepath !

So, A/c to me, this poem will always be classier than both the Agneepath movies.