A crowd in front of Puja Talkies in Dhanbad on Wednesday. (Gautam Dey)

From ouch-that-hurt to touché, the Day 1 verdict of Dhanbad residents has tilted in favour of Gangs of Wasseypur II which released on Wednesday, with the responses suggesting the second part of the movie is more realistic than the first.

And unlike the brouhaha from a section of Wasseypur surrounding the release of Gangs of Wasseypur I on June 22, there was not a single murmur of protest on Wednesday even as the two theatres — Fame Multiplex and Puja Talkies — had security personnel standing guard.

Fame Multiplex, however, had screened two late evening shows on Tuesday, a day before the official release of the Anurag Kashyap movie based on the infamous Dhanbad coal mafia.

Manager of Puja Talkies Ganesh Singh said the film witnessed good response from local residents and that all sections of society, including women, turned up.

“It was house full in both the morning and noon shows. We expect the trend to continue for a few more days,” he added.

Similarly, at Fame Multiplex movie buffs started gathering more than an hour ahead of the first show.

Jatan Kumar, a final-year student of ISM, said the second part of the movie was better than part I, adding that all the actors had done justice to their roles.

Jignesh Joshi, an advocate and a resident of Jharia, said, “The second part of the movie is closer to truth than the first.”

He added that part I of the movie was racy, but part II is slower yet realistic.

Biswajit Bhattacharjee, a lawyer who arrived with his family to catch the show at Puja Talkies, said, “Instead of trying to spot reality in the movie, people should view it as a work of fiction that is in some way related to gang wars of Wasseypur. It is a complete masala flick which has all the ingredients, including comedy.”

The local residents were even impressed with Zeishan Quadri, the scriptwriter from Wasseypur who has also acted in the second part of the movie.

Mohammed Arif, a resident of Wasseypur who teaches at a school in Gaya, said, “I liked the character played by local boy and writer of the movie Zeishan Quadri. I see a lot of talent in him.”

The district police had tightened security at both theatres following requests by the management.

Magistrates have been deputed at the both places, with 32 policemen including 25 constables deployed at Puja Talkies.

Four police officer and 10 constables held fort at Fame Multiplex.