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By T. V. Antony Raj

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Did you ever wonder what the longest film that was ever produced in India?

It is the Gangs of Wasseypur, a 2012 film based on criminal activities, co-written, produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap. Centred around the coal mafia of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and the underlying power struggles, politics and vengeance between three families well steeped in crime, the story spans from the early 1940s to the mid-1990s.
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Though the movie ran for 319 minutes,  Directors Fortnight, a non-competitive section at the Cannes Film Festival, selected Gangs of Wasseypur for screening at the 2012 Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

However, in India, no Indian theatre was willing to screen the five hours 19-minute movie.  So, the film was edited into two parts of 160 and 159 minutes for screening in India.

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So, the credit for the longest Indian feature film screened in India as a whole until now is probably Thavamai Thavamirundhu (தவமாய் தவமிருந்து), a 2005 Tamil movie depicting the familial bond, directed by Cheran.

At the box office, the film Thavamai Thavamirundhuwas was moderately received compared to the director’s earlier work, Autograph. However, the film won the National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare.

Here is a list of the longest films produced in India, sorted by running time: