Mukkabaaz (2017) Review!!!!

Synopsis – A lower caste boxer struggles to make his mark on the boxing world.

My Take – Whether you like his films or not, there is no denying that filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has unofficially become the torchbearer of gritty Hindi modern cinema, and rightfully so, because he does know how to pack a punch with subjects like religion, caste politics, and nationalism that are generally considered as taboo subjects by Bollywood filmmakers. Here, director Kashyap, who is also often tagged as one of the most intelligent directors currently working in India, is rightfully back in form, despite recent critical & commercial failures like Bombay Velvet (2015) and Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016). Having its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and following it up with its showcase at the 19th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, this film, also known as The Brawler, which has been produced in collaboration with Kashyap‘s banner, Phantom Films, and filmmaker Anand L Rai (Tanu Weds Manu), is a bracing start to the film year, as here, director Kashyap manages to pack caste inequality, bureaucracy, corruption and triumph over disability into a romantic melodrama built around the boxing ring in small town India. Sure, it doesn’t have any star power attached to it, and it’s no Raging Bull or Rocky, neither is it anything like Kashyap‘s previous works such like Gangs of Wasseypur, Ugly or Black Friday, yet it’s thoroughly fun, especially if you’re willing to roll with the punches in this time-tested tale of true grit, plus it does deserve support for being one of the few boxing films to come out of India. The story follows Shravan Kumar Singh (Vineet Kumar Singh), a hotheaded low-caste boxer living in Bareilly (a town in Uttar Pradesh), who has been training under a despotic coach Bhagwan Das Mishra (Jimmy Sheirgill), who would rather have his wards run errands and cook meals for him than train seriously.

However, things go sour when Shravan rebels against doing household chores and lands a punch on Bhagwan Das in the heat of the moment before breaking away. Nevertheless, his former coach’s trainees catch up and beat him to a pulp, but right there on the rooftop, watching Bhagwan Das’s niece, Sunaina (Zoya Hussain), a mute by birth, impressed by his spirit, falls in love with him. While Bhagwan Das, a Brahmin strongman with a mean streak, uses his muscle power and clout to make sure that he never competes in the coming district championship, Shravan finds himself in Varanasi, training under the unorthodox Sanjay Kumar (Ravi Kishan), who he uses his own pull to get him in. However, Shravan and Sunaina have no idea to what extend Bhagwan Das is ready to go make their lives miserable. The path of the lovers as it is meant to be, is full of hurdles, not just from the world, but also from their individual aspirations, desperate to survive in a limited society to which they belong. With Bhagwan Das resolving to never let Shravan compete in the championship until he lets go of Sunaina, there is another narrative that lurks, one about caste and the entitlement and the state of sports and sportsmen at the local level. At first, it might seem like the film is yet another dark and twisted Anurag Kashyap feature, though, in a matter of the first few minutes of its screening, you will realize that the film is more entertaining than dark, in fact, you would find it comical at a few places. Yes, the film marks director Kashyap‘s fab return to a realm he understands and expresses best — with all its flaws, angst and humor, pop-culture references, making it all as distressing as it is frickin’ fun and real. It also takes guts on the filmmakers’ part to cast an actor in the lightweight category of fame, and walk away with the swag of having made a full-on Desi, mainstream film. Sports dramas have always followed a format that is quite familiar to us. There is an underdog who aspires to be big. And films in this category would showcase his triumph in becoming a champion. What’s interesting about director Kashyap’s film is that the triumph he shows here is not about the victory of the hero inside the boxing ring but what he manages to do outside that ring in real life. Sure, there are a few fights in the boxing ring, but the ones outside the ring are what keeps you on tenterhooks. The film, at its core, is about the many loves in Shravan’s life. His love for boxing, his love for Sunaina, his love for rising above all odds. It’s the intermingling of these love stories in Sharavan’s life that makes and breaks him and amid Shravan’s love stories, director Kashyap weaves a tapestry of all things that plague the country. The cow vigilantes who prowl the streets of Uttar Pradesh, the upper caste bigots who discriminate without flinching, and the men who cannot stand to watch a woman make a decision of her own. It’s ambitious and risky, but when has that ever bothered him? Director Kashyap isn’t out for subtlety as this morality tale takes you in and out of the ring, but his actors can brush ardor, rage, pain and deceit in broad, sometimes bawdy strokes.

With a few odd twists stirring the melodrama and the improbability of an Indian boxing film, director Kashyap manages to keep a tight pace despite the film running for about 155 minutes, despite the presence of clever entertaining musical numbers that don’t advance the plot much. Though the film is primarily concerned with the dismal state of sporting infrastructure in India, director Kashyap clearly has current events on his mind, by making Sanjay, a Dalit and Bhagwan, a bigoted Brahmin, caste discrimination is brought forward with a directness not often seen in Hindi cinema. What director Kashyap does with this film is arrest you inside an arena that is today’s India then unleashes the punches: patriarchy, caste, feudal mindsets, religious bigotry, violence as a way of life along with apathy, unemployment, a creaking bureaucracy, punches that many Indians take on your average day. Cinema can be a strong medium for skilled film makers to make their political statements very clearly and loudly. The bizarre political climate in a state like U.P. gets depicted in its raw format here. The right wing villain who belongs to upper caste and gets trashed by a Dalit who is screaming Bharat Mata Ki Jai, was nothing short from a bold political statement of the director who never shied away from expressing opinion. The fact that the hurdles our hero has to jump over are mostly against the system, makes the conflict of the film more unique. It gave a hint of doing something too filmy in the end, but director Anurag Kashyap keeps it grounded and makes it a possible story. Written by Kashyap and Singh along with four other writers, the film is uniquely layered with rich social texture and subtexts. Characters have been etched well with a lot of physicality. Their shortcomings, like Bhagwan can’t have children and Sunaina can’t speak, ably add as much commentary as do the rooted dialogues. But this film also has a stamp of Anand L Rai, one of the producers here, known mostly for Tanu Weds Manu films and Raanjhana – be it the casting of Shergill and Kishan, or the depiction of a typical UP town, as the metaphor of voice, rebellion and voiceless men and women runs beautifully through the film, especially in the way it adapts modern devices in its narrative, to show how contemporary identities are created. For all its flaws, the film has some great performances, especially from its leading man. Vineet Kumar Singh is certainly the lifeline of the film. Known for his supporting role as Danish Khan in the Gangs of Wasseypur films, definitely owns his first lead role in every aspect. From his boxing training to the typical native accent, everything about the actor’s performance was flawless. I think the effort he put in the physical transformation has helped him in being more true to the character. Matching him in the acting department is Jimmy Sheirgill, as he delivers a knockout performance as the corrupt, prejudiced and megalomaniacal local politician cum gang lord cum sporting authority. He speaks in a deliberately low tone, physically assaults without a hint of remorse, and removes his shades and shows off his dilated pupils to further intimidate the person standing in front of him. Much like the rest of cast, Shergill fits in an Anurag Kashyap film far better than most of his Bollywood counterparts. The caste arrogance and other aspects of that character were performed very neatly by the actor. Newcomer Zoya Hussain is competent as the mute but spunky Sunaina. She manages to outshine everybody despite not uttering a word. Her well-etched out character and her expressions, whether it’s the coy girl who gives her lover a letter in secret or the angry woman who beats up a goon. Ravi Kishan does a wonderful job as well. Shreedhar Dubey as Gopal Tiwari, Shravan’s best friend delivers a likable performance. On the whole, ‘Mukkabaaz’ is an edgy and thrilling sports film which despite its flaws packs a solid punch with its gripping narrative and spellbinding dialogues.