On a rainy day, Ramadhir Singh overhears Shahid's ambitions of taking over the coal mines from him. He hires Shahid as the new muscle-man of the coal mine who terrorises the local population to seize their lands and extract compliance. The British coal mines are sold to Indian industrialists and Ramadhir Singh ( Tigmanshu Dhulia) receives a few coal-mines in the Dhanbad region. In 1947, Independent India begins to assert its authority over itself. The enraged Shahid kills the coal-mines muscleman who had denied him leave on that day. He is unable to be at his wife's side who dies during childbirth. They settle down in Dhanbad where Shahid begins work as a labourer in a coal mine. The Qureshi clans eventually find out and order the banishment of Shahid Khan and his family from Wasseypur. Shahid Khan ( Jaideep Ahlawat), a Pathan, takes advantage of the mysteriousness of the faceless dacoit Sultana, a Qureshi, by impersonating his identity to rob British ferry trains.
The region was a hotbed of the local faceless dacoit Sultana Qureshi who robbed British trains in the night and thus holds some patriotic value for the locals. The village has been historically ruled by the Qureshi Muslims, a sub-caste of animal butchers who are feared by the non-Qureshi Muslims living there and Dhanbad by extension.ĭuring British colonial rule, the British had seized the farm lands of Dhanbad for coal which began the business of coal mining in Dhanbad.
In 2000, Wasseypur and Dhanbad were redistricted for a second time into the newly formed state of Jharkhand where they remain. After India gained its independence in 1947, they were carved out of Bengal and redistricted into the state of Bihar in 1956. During the British Raj, Wasseypur and Dhanbad were located in the Bengal region. Nasir's narration describes the history and nature of Wasseypur. The scene cuts abruptly for a prologue by the narrator, Nasir. The leader of the gang then calls one JP Singh (Satya Anand) on his cell phone and reports that the family have been successfully executed but he is double crossed by JP Singh as a fire fight erupts between them and a police check post blocking their escape route. After heavy firing on the house, they retreat away from the crime scene in a vehicle, convinced they have killed everyone within. They surround the house and unleash a wave of bullets and grenades on it with the intention of killing the family inside it. 1.2 Introduction of Wasseypur and DhanbadĪ gang of heavily armed men scour and finally narrow down on a house in Wasseypur.2.2 Introduction of Wasseypur and Dhanbad.It is regarded by many as a modern cult film. The film bagged four Filmfare Awards, including Best Film (Critics) and Best Actress (Critics), at the 58th Filmfare Awards Īlthough not a huge hit by any financial standard, the meagre combined budget of ₹18.5cr allowed the 2 films to be commercially successful, with net domestic earnings of ₹50.81cr (of the 2 parts combined). The combined film won the Best Audiography, Re-recordist's of the Final Mixed Track (Alok De, Sinoy Joseph and Shreejesh Nair) and Special Mention for acting ( Nawazuddin Siddiqui) at the 60th National Film Awards. Gangs of Wasseypur has bagged four nominations, including best film and best director, at the 55th Asia-Pacific Film Festival. Gangs of Wasseypur was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2013. It was released on 25 July in France and on 28 June in the Middle East but was banned in Kuwait and Qatar. Part 1 was released on 22 June 2012 in more than 1000 theatre screens across India.
The films soundtrack is heavily influenced by traditional Indian folk songs. The film received an A certification from the Indian Censor Board.
Centered on the coal mafia of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and the underlying power struggles, politics and vengeance between three crime families, the Part 1 features Kiran ensemble cast with Manoj Bajpai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadda, Tigmanshu Dhulia in the major roles and its story spans from the early 1940s to mid-1990s.īoth parts were originally shot as a single film measuring a total of 319 minutes and screened at the 2012 Cannes Directors' Fortnight but since no Indian theatre would volunteer to screen a five plus hour movie, it was divided into two parts (160 mins and 159 mins respectively) for the Indian market. Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1 (stylised as Gangs of वासेपुर) is a 2012 Indian crime film co-written, produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap.