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Quick Answer: Is Sholay or Gangs of Wasseypur the greater Hindi crime epic?

Sholay leads on Celluloid Score (87% vs 83%). Sholay is the foundational Hindi masala western; Wasseypur is the modern coal-belt crime saga in two parts. Scores combine verified editorial and independent rating inputs.

The matchup

Sholay is the foundational Hindi masala western; Wasseypur is the modern coal-belt crime saga in two parts.

Different centuries of Hindi crime mythology. Sholay invented the ensemble revenge template; Gangs of Wasseypur updates feuds with digressive, dirty realism. Neither replaces the other — compare runtime appetite and tolerance for sprawl.

Sholay (1975)

Ramesh Sippy · Action, Western · 3h 24m

India · Hindi · Jun 15, 1975

87%
Celluloid Score Recommended

India's definitive masala western — endlessly quoted, remade in spirit, never surpassed.

Two small-time crooks hired to capture a ruthless bandit forge unlikely bonds with villagers on the dusty frontier.

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Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Anurag Kashyap · Crime, Drama, Action · 2h 40m

India · Hindi · Jun 22, 2012

83%
Celluloid Score Recommended

Anurag Kashyap’s coal-dust epic is Hindi cinema’s great modern gangster saga — sprawling, funny, brutal, and endlessly quotable.

Across decades in the mining towns of Dhanbad, the Khan and Qureshi clans wage a blood feud that remakes local power, crime, and myth.

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Score breakdown

Signal Sholay Gangs of Wasseypur
Celluloid Score 87% 83%
Editorial rating 96/100 94/100
Audience snapshot (excluded) 90% 89%
Metascore 89
Letterboxd 4.5 4.2
IMDb 8.1 8.2
Runtime 3h 24m 2h 40m
Country India India

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