The film is, yes, five hours long, but not one of those hours is a waste of time. This is a magnificent and lusty crime drama, a story filled with everything that makes cinema cinema: strong friendships, grand betrayals, a broad historical background, a broad economic background, lots of action, lots of love scenes, lots of passions that have a godlike register.

There is also a fantastic score—Gangs of Wasseypur is a drama and not a standard Bollywood—meaning, the gangsters, or government officials, or lovers do not break into song. Once you’ve entered this film, with its opening action sequence (bombs, bullets, a panic room), you will lose track of time. The film is shown in two parts.