# Gangs of Wasseypur (गैंग्स ऑफ वासेपुर)
**Gangs of Wasseypur** (गैंग्स ऑफ वासेपुर) is a 2012 Indian two-part Hindi-language crime film directed by [Anurag Kashyap](https://www.edgepedia.org/anurag-kashyap), charting about seventy years of gang warfare among Muslim crime families and a Hindu capitalist-turned-politician in the coal-mining town of Wasseypur, near Dhanbad in [Jharkhand](https://www.edgepedia.org/jharkhand)[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur) • [2](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjhs-themes/article/investigating-nature-within-different-discursive-and-ideological-contexts-case-studies-of-chinese-and-indian-coal-capitals/3844E87C0B418000AD4714FFE6F70A90). The two parts together run 320 minutes, and the film premiered in its entirety at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) sidebar[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur) • [3](https://sightlines.media/film/117691/gangs-of-wasseypur-part-1-2012). It addresses Indian socio-political issues from 1941 to 2009 through gang wars, with a soundtrack by [Sneha Khanwalkar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sneha-khanwalkar) and sly digs at Bollywood[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and year | Anurag Kashyap, 2012, India[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur) |
| Runtime | 320 minutes combined for the two parts[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur) |
| Premiere | 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Directors' Fortnight; also screened at Sundance[3](https://sightlines.media/film/117691/gangs-of-wasseypur-part-1-2012) • [1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur) |
| Story span | Indian socio-political issues from 1941 to 2009, told through coal-mafia gang wars[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur) |
| Principal cast | Manoj Bajpayee (Sardar Khan), Jaideep Ahlawat (Shahid Khan), Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Faizal), Tigmanshu Dhulia (Ramadhir Singh), Richa Chadda, Reema Sen, Huma Qureshi[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangs_of_wasseypur) • [5](https://www.netflix.com/title/70243256?fromWatch=true) |
| Key crew | Music Sneha Khanwalkar; cinematography Rajeev Ravi; screenplay Zeeshan Qadri, Akhilesh, Sachin Ladia, and Anurag Kashyap[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur) |
| Production | AKFPL (Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt Ltd) with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures; producers Guneet Monga, Sunil Bohra, and Anurag Kashyap[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur) |
| Critical scores | 91% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (35 reviews); Metascore 89 on Metacritic (10 reviews)[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangs_of_wasseypur) • [6](https://metacriticz.pages.dev/movie/gangs-of-wasseypur/) |
## Spoilers
### Story and setting
The film is a fictionalized retelling of the coal mafia of Dhanbad, beginning in colonial India in 1941 and running up to the modern day[7](https://www.tesisenred.net/bitstream/handle/10803/694414/2025_Tesis_Gupta_Taniya.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1). Across successive generations, the film tracks a Muslim family's conflict with a Hindu businessman who has entered politics and controls the region's interests.[2](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjhs-themes/article/investigating-nature-within-different-discursive-and-ideological-contexts-case-studies-of-chinese-and-indian-coal-capitals/3844E87C0B418000AD4714FFE6F70A90)
The rivalry has three parties: the industrialist Ramadhir Singh, who takes control of the mines after India's independence from Britain; the Qureshis, who traditionally controlled Wasseypur; and [Shahid Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/shahid-khan), a miner banished by the Qureshis for robbing trains, who returns to Wasseypur under false pretenses with the intent of stealing the mines from Singh[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gangs-of-wasseypur-2015). Ramadhir sees Shahid as a threat and murders him, triggering a feud between the Khans and the Qureshis; Shahid's son Sardar vows revenge[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur).
Part 1 centers on Sardar Khan ([Manoj Bajpayee](https://www.edgepedia.org/manoj-bajpayee)), who trades assassination attempts with Ramadhir through the 1960s and 1970s[9](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/gangs-of-wasseypur/). Midway through the second half of Part 1, the film moves away from coal and covers sand mining, wood, contracts, auctions, and other mafia activities[10](https://newscinehindi.blogspot.com/2022/06/gangs-of-wasseypur-join-gang.html). Part 2 shifts to Shahid's grandson Faizal ([Nawazuddin Siddiqui](https://www.edgepedia.org/nawazuddin-siddiqui)), an inveterate cannabis smoker who is initially reluctant to inherit the mantle of revenge but, once he becomes the don of Wasseypur, has a single ambition: to annihilate Ramadhir Singh[1](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur). Faizal monopolizes the iron trade in the late 1980s, and his narrative carries the film into an age of automatic machine guns, pagers, and internet connectivity[9](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/gangs-of-wasseypur/).
Among the film's central themes are how organized crime, politics, and money cannot be pulled apart, shown via the coal mafia's partnerships with those in power; manhood, male dominance, and appetite, set against the self-determination of the women; the influence of movies on how regular people see themselves; and religious and regional identity within a hierarchical society.[3](https://sightlines.media/film/117691/gangs-of-wasseypur-part-1-2012)
## Production
Kashyap originally conceived the idea for Part Two, the explosion and climax, but decided he needed to show where the characters came from; without Part One, he said, the conclusion would be just another action movie where people kill each other[11](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/anurag-kashyap-on-the-creation-of-gangs-of-wasseypur-1.353802/). He has said the team always knew the film would be shot in two parts[10](https://newscinehindi.blogspot.com/2022/06/gangs-of-wasseypur-join-gang.html).
The film went through about 18 months of pre-production and 15 months of post-production[12](https://bollyspice.com/anurag-kashyap-talks-gangs-wasseypur/). Kashyap had researchers compile the entire history of Wasseypur[13](https://a-rabbitsfoot.com/editorial/film/gangs-of-wasseypur/). A month before that research, in New York, he had seen Marco Tullio Giordana's two-part six-hour epic *The Best of Youth* (2003) and Giordana's earlier *One Hundred Steps* (2000); around the same time the Tamil film *Subramaniapuram* (2008) was released[13](https://a-rabbitsfoot.com/editorial/film/gangs-of-wasseypur/).
Cinematographer [Rajeev Ravi](https://www.edgepedia.org/rajeev-ravi) proposed shooting the past on film stock and moving to a DSLR digital camera as the story reached the present[14](https://imp-art.org/perspectives/interviews/staying-indie-an-interview-with-filmmaker-anurag-kashyap/). The visual style changes with the timeline: the film opens with classical wide frames and becomes more intimate, more close-up, more hand-held, and more energetic as it progresses[11](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/anurag-kashyap-on-the-creation-of-gangs-of-wasseypur-1.353802/).
The film relied substantially on location shooting in and around the Dhanbad–Wasseypur region and on a large ensemble cast drawn largely from theater and India's pool of character performers rather than stars, which kept the budget within the modest range of independent-leaning production[3](https://sightlines.media/film/117691/gangs-of-wasseypur-part-1-2012).
## Release and reception
The complete film was presented at its Cannes premiere in 2012, and Indian audiences saw it in two parts, with the second part reaching theaters a couple of months after the first[15](https://www.gqindia.com/content/review-gangs-wasseypur). Kashyap has said the right way to watch the two parts is together, and that the film plays like a classic Indian television series[11](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/anurag-kashyap-on-the-creation-of-gangs-of-wasseypur-1.353802/).
Critical reception was strongly favorable. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 91% Tomatometer from 35 reviews, with a critics consensus describing more than five hours that go by in a blink[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangs_of_wasseypur). Its Metascore is 89, based on 10 reviews, all positive[6](https://metacriticz.pages.dev/movie/gangs-of-wasseypur/). The Guardian's review called it a possible turning point in [Hindi cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/hindi-cinema), a stylish, pacy, and naturalistic film that did great business at the box office[16](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/21/gangs-of-wasseypur-review). [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter) described it as an extraordinary ride that puts [Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino) in a corner with its command of cinematically inspired violence, ironic characters, and breathless pace[6](https://metacriticz.pages.dev/movie/gangs-of-wasseypur/). Netflix lists the film with a National Film Award among its tags[5](https://www.netflix.com/title/70243256?fromWatch=true).
## Legacy
The film is widely treated as a landmark for Indian independent-minded cinema, fusing the grammar of world crime cinema with the dialects, folk music, and political history of the Hindi coal heartland[3](https://sightlines.media/film/117691/gangs-of-wasseypur-part-1-2012). Scholarly and critical accounts credit the two films with redefining the treatment of on-screen violence in mainstream Indian cinema[17](https://www.swamivivekanandauniversity.ac.in/resource/assets/pdf/books/Linking%20Latitudes_FInal%20%281%29.pdf), and the film has been read as Indian cinema's engagement with the socio-political realities of [North India](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-india), particularly Bihar and its surrounding region[18](https://www.scholarcave.com/index.php/isrn/article/download/105/44).
## References
1. [Gangs of Wasseypur, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival programme](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/31/8241-gangs-of-wasseypur)
2. [Investigating nature within different discursive and ideological contexts: case studies of Chinese and Indian coal capitals, BJHS Themes (Cambridge Core)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjhs-themes/article/investigating-nature-within-different-discursive-and-ideological-contexts-case-studies-of-chinese-and-indian-coal-capitals/3844E87C0B418000AD4714FFE6F70A90)
3. [Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1 (2012), Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/117691/gangs-of-wasseypur-part-1-2012)
4. [Gangs of Wasseypur, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gangs_of_wasseypur)
5. [Gangs of Wasseypur, Netflix listing](https://www.netflix.com/title/70243256?fromWatch=true)
6. [Gangs of Wasseypur, critic reviews aggregate](https://metacriticz.pages.dev/movie/gangs-of-wasseypur/)
7. [A descriptive analysis of cultural references in the Spanish dubbing of Gangs of Wasseypur (thesis, Taniya Gupta)](https://www.tesisenred.net/bitstream/handle/10803/694414/2025_Tesis_Gupta_Taniya.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
8. [Gangs of Wasseypur movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gangs-of-wasseypur-2015)
9. [Review: Gangs of Wasseypur, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/gangs-of-wasseypur/)
10. [Gangs of Wasseypur: Join the Gang, interview with Anurag Kashyap](https://newscinehindi.blogspot.com/2022/06/gangs-of-wasseypur-join-gang.html)
11. [Anurag Kashyap on the creation of Gangs of Wasseypur, The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/anurag-kashyap-on-the-creation-of-gangs-of-wasseypur-1.353802/)
12. [Anurag Kashyap talks Gangs of Wasseypur, BollySpice](https://bollyspice.com/anurag-kashyap-talks-gangs-wasseypur/)
13. [Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur, A Rabbit's Foot](https://a-rabbitsfoot.com/editorial/film/gangs-of-wasseypur/)
14. [Staying Indie: An Interview with Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Impart](https://imp-art.org/perspectives/interviews/staying-indie-an-interview-with-filmmaker-anurag-kashyap/)
15. [Review: Gangs of Wasseypur, GQ India](https://www.gqindia.com/content/review-gangs-wasseypur)
16. [Gangs of Wasseypur – review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/21/gangs-of-wasseypur-review)
17. [Blood will have Blood, Linking Latitudes (Swami Vivekananda University)](https://www.swamivivekanandauniversity.ac.in/resource/assets/pdf/books/Linking%20Latitudes_FInal%20%281%29.pdf)
18. [Indian cinema's engagement with the socio-political realities of North India, International Social Research Nexus](https://www.scholarcave.com/index.php/isrn/article/download/105/44)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 2010s › Hindi films of 2012*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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