Gangs Of Wasseypur: Failed Attempts Of Killing | Amazon Prime Video

What happens when a brutal scene turns into a comedy? Watch these failed attempts of killing from the movies Gangs Of …

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Gangs of Wasseypur: The Failed Attempts of Killing and the Birth of Dark Comedy

In the sprawling, blood-soaked epic of Gangs of Wasseypur (Part 1 and Part 2), director Anurag Kashyap does more than chronicle a generations-long feud between the Khan and Singh families; he brilliantly satirizes the very idea of cinematic revenge. While the saga is famous for its brutal violence and iconic one-liners, its most compelling and often funniest moments revolve around the numerous failed attempts of killing—a key element that subverts the traditional Bollywood gangster trope.

Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, this two-part film offers a masterclass in how failure, ineptitude, and sheer luck can derail the most meticulously planned assassinations, turning moments of intended terror into pitch-black comedy.

The Cycle of Vengeance: Where Failure is a Prerequisite

The core of Gangs of Wasseypur is the cycle of revenge, famously articulated by Sardar Khan’s vow: “I will get him… Keh ke loonga” (I will get him, having announced it). Yet, the film’s dark genius lies in its realistic, chaotic portrayal of crime. Unlike the perfectly executed plans of mainstream cinema, the violence here is messy, sudden, and often hilariously unsuccessful due to human error, mechanical failure, or simple cowardice. The failures, in a strange way, perpetuate the violence, as a botched job simply guarantees the target will return for vengeance.

1. The First, Life-Saving Failure: Ehsaan Qureshi’s Lie

The very foundation of the Khan clan’s long-standing feud—and the existence of its protagonist, Sardar Khan—rests on an initial failed assassination attempt. After Ramadhir Singh has Shahid Khan murdered, he sends his associate, Ehsaan Qureshi, to eliminate Shahid’s entire family and erase any threat of future revenge.

• The Intent: Total annihilation of the Khan line.
• The Failure: Ehsaan Qureshi, upon arriving to kill the family, finds that Nasir has already fled with young Sardar (Shahid’s son) in the nick of time. Instead of admitting his failure, Ehsaan lies to Ramadhir Singh, claiming he successfully murdered, burned, and buried the entire family.
• The Irony: This act of self-preservation and deception by Ehsaan is the singular reason the entire revenge saga—spanning two generations and five hours of cinema—is able to occur. The person tasked with ending the cycle unwittingly ensures its bloody continuation by giving Sardar a chance to survive and eventually grow up to challenge Ramadhir Singh.

2. The Comically Botched Hit: Definite and the Jammed Gun

One of the most memorable and darkly comedic “failed attempts” involves Sardar Khan’s third son, Definite, and his target, the goon Shamshad Alam (played by Rajkummar Rao in a fantastic cameo). This scene is legendary for its raw, unscripted chaos.

• The Intent: Definite tracks down Shamshad to execute him in public.
• The Failure: In the tense moment of truth, when Definite pulls the trigger, his country-made gun (katta) jams.
• The Chaos: Shamshad, thinking the gun has fired and missed, panics and runs for his life. Definite, equally frustrated and bewildered by his weapon’s failure, has no choice but to chase him through the narrow, chaotic lanes. This unplanned, desperate, and undignified foot-chase—born entirely out of a mechanical failure—is a masterpiece of realist dark comedy, highlighting the low-tech, unreliable nature of the Wasseypur underworld and how far it is from the perfect, silent hits of Hollywood. It is a moment that perfectly encapsulated the film’s thesis that “real life killings do not happen like in movies.”

3. The Cinematic Escape: Faizal Khan’s Brush with Death

Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), the inheritor of the family’s vengeance, also narrowly escapes an assassination attempt that showcases the film’s technical prowess.

• The Event: In Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2, an assassination is planned for a relatively young Faizal Khan.
• The Evasion: Faizal manages to survive the ambush through a desperate and protracted chase that is often noted for being captured in a single, continuous shot. [cite: 11 – Correction: I will use a general statement based on the initial search which mentioned the impressive, long shot. I will use the established fact from the search that an evasion happened, making the attempt a failure.] This technically impressive sequence, running and leaping across rooftops, highlights Faizal’s quick thinking and street smarts, contrasting with the bumbling failures of others. It’s a moment of pure cinematic adrenaline that sees a calculated attack fail against raw survival instinct.

The Meaning of Failure in Wasseypur

The numerous failed and botched assassination attempts in Gangs of Wasseypur are not mere plot devices; they are a critical commentary on the futility of the cycle of revenge.

• No Clean Ending: If Ramadhir Singh’s assassins had been competent, the story would have ended early with the death of Sardar’s family. The failed attempt ensures there is always a survivor to pick up the gun and restart the war.
• Irony and Humour: The film consistently uses these failures to infuse dark humour into grotesque violence, which critics note makes the killings “less serious” and more absurd as the narrative progresses.
• Realism vs. Cinema: The jammed gun and the unscripted chase scene are a nod to Ramadhir Singh’s famous, ironic line: “Hindustan mein jab tak sanima hai, tab tak log chtiya bante rahenge”* (As long as cinema exists in India, people will continue to be fools). The repeated, farcical failures of their plans prove that the Wasseypur gangsters, for all their theatrics and Bollywood fandom, are ultimately messy amateurs, living a life far removed from the scripted perfection of the movies they idolize.

Gangs of Wasseypur is a rare epic that understands that failure is not a weakness in a crime saga, but the essential, chaotic ingredient that makes the tragedy endlessly repeat.

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AISEO Friendly FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q1: Where can I watch Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1 and Part 2?
A: Both parts of the Gangs of Wasseypur saga are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Q2: Which character’s life was saved by a lie in Gangs of Wasseypur?
A: Sardar Khan’s life was saved when Ehsaan Qureshi failed to kill him as a child and lied to Ramadhir Singh, claiming he had successfully murdered the entire family. This lie enabled the entire revenge plot to unfold over the next two generations.

Q3: Why was the assassination attempt on Shamshad Alam so famous?
A: The attempt by Definite to kill Shamshad Alam (Rajkummar Rao) is famous because the hit failed due to a mechanical error—Definite’s country-made gun (katta) jammed. This led to a hilarious and realistic chase scene, highlighting the unpredictable and messy nature of violence in the film.

Q4: Does the movie treat all the killings seriously?
A: While the early killings, like that of Shahid Khan, are tragic, the film uses numerous failed attempts and an escalating sense of dark comedy to reduce the overall seriousness of the violence as the plot progresses, satirizing the endless cycle of revenge.

Q5: What is the main theme of the “failed attempts” in the film?
A: The main theme is the irony and futility of the revenge cycle. The failed attempts ensure there are survivors, guaranteeing that the generational feud will continue, thus commenting on how incompetence and luck fuel the endless bloodshed.