Mukkabaaz review: Anurag Kashyap HITS HARD!

Movie: Mukkabaaz

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Producer(s): Eros,Aanand L Rai, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane

Cast: Vineet Kumar Singh, ZoyaHussain, Ravi Kishan, Jimmy Shergill, Rajesh Tailang

Rating: 3.5/5

There are only a handful of storytellers who can explore and execute a realistic and a gritty tale like Mukkabaaz, and there couldn’t have been anyone better than Anurag Kashyap. He brings in his Quentin Tarantino influences to the Indian celluloid. Although the trailer and the posters will give you the impression of a sports drama with a love angle (and, to be honest, the Rocky vibes too), the film is much more than what the promos have told you so far. Amongst the many themes that film deals with, there’s a central flavour of the caste system, the lack of respect for athletes outside the realm of cricket and the power of true love in a world soured with hate. Sure, you have seen these themes before and will continue to do so, but there has been no one yet, who would match the Gangs OfWasseypur helmer.

To give you a synopsis of what the film is about, it is the tale of an aspiring boxer, Shravan Singh(Vineet Kumar Singh), who is nothing short of a boxing prodigy out of the gritty, trigger-happy state of UP. Shravan, as you’d expect, has a love angle going on with Sunaina (Zoya Hussain), the niece of his former boss, ex-boxer and a renowned but egoistic politician, Bhagwan Das Mishra (Jimmy Shergill) who, as you will see, gets rubbed off the wrong way by the lead protagonist. Soon, Bhagwan, as you’d expect any man in power with a beef to behave, becomes the seemingly unconquerable obstacle between our man and his dreams and the love of his life. After being banned from competing through his hometown district, Bareilly at the state level competition, he heads off to Benaras, only to eventually be taken under the wings of Sanjay Kumar (Ravi Kishan). What unfolds after that? You’d think you have figured it out, but it is NOTHING that you’re expecting it to be.

As far as individual performances go, Vineet Kumar Singh is in top form (professionally and physically). All the blood, sweat and tears that he has put in for his character is evidently seen. Sure, no character portrayal is perfect and Vineet’sShravan has his own share of inconsistencies, but it is those very flaws that makes him more human, and, in turn, more relatable.

One would believe that if a character is mute, he/she would hardly have anything to do, but when Zoya Hussain made an appearance as the endearing Sunaina, all those misconceptions went out of the window. Her abilities to convey her message (and at times, rebellion) simply through her expressions is simply bang on. But, that’s not all that she uses to communicate. When you see the feature presentation, you will observe one of the other themes of the film: One can do ANYTHING they want if they have the will and determination. On the other hand, there are seasoned actors like Ravi Kishan and Jimmy Shergill whom you simply cannot compliment enough. You’ll get nothing but pure brilliance out from them.

As far as the script is concerned, the film has a lot of literal and figurative punches to throw at you in the first half, which we felt moved swiftly, thanks to a lot of witty and funny dialogues which are bound to make you chuckle even when you don’t think it’s the right thing to do. But, be prepared for a little less verbal and more physical jibes in the second half as the quest for love takes off. Rest assured, there’s nothing that will not keep you at the edge of your seat, even if it feels that it has been stretched a bit too much.

Our Verdict is that you MUST check out the tale of this Mukkabaaz, that is, if you’re the kind who likes to be entertained like you probably were by Gangs Of Wasseypur and were made to face the dark reality to today and age Ugly style. There will be bits of sloppily done screenplay and two terribly placed songs, but that shouldn’t be an impediment to not watch this gritty tale unfold.