I am not a movie buff who would be writing a review of the movie but sometimes there are reasons or rather 'emotions' compelling enough to do things which one has never done before. It was only when I read enough number of status messages on Facebook that I decided to research on what 'Gangs of Wasseypur' is all about. My interest in the movie rose exponentially as I uncovered the layers.
I have spend first fifteen years of my life in the coal belt of Jharkhand. This belt which was like a black hole for the rest of the world during 1990s . The nearest town which one could find in the map of government of India was Hazaribagh, which was still 20 km from my home. The collieries would just have residential colonies with basic minimal amenities and mines. Many a times we would see crack in our boundaries of our house when blasting in the opencast mining took place. My father had a tough life.We too had a tough life but we never felt it because of the way we were shielded from all external influences. We had a defined territory to play and specific people to talk to.We would never mingle with the masses.There were no STD phones. Father's wireless would start beeping at 6 in the morning when production reports would come from the mines. The number of lines in his forehead would be directly proportional to the amount of coal lost in the theft which would mean decreased production for the day. I remember once he had an altercation with a local goon. The next day the goon was at our gate hurling abuses at my dad and also threatened to kidnap him. The security stopped him somehow. I was into tears, scared to the core. This was when I was twelve. At sixteen, my father decided that I should pack my bags and leave the life in the coal belt. I left home for good. Father's life continued there.
Gangs of Wasseypur seemed like a repeat telecast of lot of scenes which I witnessed directly or indirectly during my childhood. Watching the movie in Jharia Raniganj belt added to the excitement. The dialogues and the locations seemed like a deja vu. I was happy to see Dhanbad opencast mining and underground mining being captured so well and the abuses used in the movie are so much part of the language used in the region. My female friends warned me but I enjoyed each of the dialogues . More so because, it is so much imbibed into the language of the region that it is no more considered an abuse. People just do some permutation and combination with the abusive words to create a new one and if you can do so well, you are considered very smart. It is a symbol of heroism too.The plot of the movie seemed weak. In the first hour, the chronology of coal theft discussed gave an impression that the movie is about how the power equation on the monopoly of coal that has changed over the years. However as it progressed, it lost the grip and slipped into something entirely different. Despite this weakness, the characters have been well crafted and actors did justice to their roles. Manoj Bajpayee is brilliant and is effortlessly excellent. The best part of the movie is the direction. The scenes and the dialogues have done wonders. The accent has been well picked up by all the actors and it feels as if Anurag Kashyap has actually found them in Dhanbad I bow to Sneha Khanwalkar for the composing the music. When I listened to the songs first, I could never imagine that they have been composed by a female.A true feminist indeed! The songs have such strong rustic touch and a style popular amongst the male folks. Music is exact replica of the folk songs which one can hear in the region during Holi and other festivals.I had an opportunity to record these songs this Holi when the bhaang ridden crowd came to our house with their dholak and refused to budge without getting appreciation from my father.I just wish that story line would have been stronger. I expect that the sequel, adresses these gaps.That would make the movie holistic. The one good reason for which Anurag Kashyap needs an applaud is selection of subject of the movie. Gangs of Wasseypur has definetly given recognition to the region which was an important undiscovered territory for ages. The region has long been non-existent for the sophisticated urban crowd whose energy needs are met from coal coming from Jharia Raniganj coal belt.
While I was coming back home after the movie, I saw these lean men on bicycle carrying tonnes of weight. I asked the driver that why are they carrying so much weight. He told me, Koyla chor hain saare. Kaafi kamai ho jaati hai bechne se. I smiled and rolled down the window to see the beauty of hinterland. A group of young boys stared at me as if I am an alien. Wearing sunglasses is still not cosidered the necessity in the region, it is a fashion statement. In the local language, bahut style maara jaa raha hai. I quickly pulled the windows up. It flashed in my head that one of them must be Sardar Khan, Faisal Khan or Danish Khan. They have been flourishing in the region for years. I reached home and in all my excitement started narrating the story or rather scenes to father. He seemed disinterested and his looks told me, tell me something new. I have been seeing this for forty years now.
My vacation would end soon and I would be packing bags again for better leaving behind the memories of childhood. Not that I want to relive them. A glimpse of that as a child was scary, watching the movie on it was fun but living the life in the coal belt is out of question. I would continue to see it through father's eyes.
