Movie: Mukkabaaz
Direction: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Vineet Kumar Singh, Zoya Hussain, Ravi Kishan, Shree Dhar Dubey, Jimmy Shergill
Music: Prashant Pillai
Cinematographer: Rajeev Ravi, Shanker RamanJay Patel, Jayesh Nair
Editor: Aarti Bajaj, Ankit Bidyadhar
Genre: Action, Drama
Rating: ∗∗∗∗
What is it about: It’s a film about a low caste boxer Shravan (Vineet Kumar Singh) who gets trampled by a local don of higher caste Bhagwan Das Mishra (Jimmy Shergill). How Shravan strives through this forms the crux of the story directed by Anurag Kashyap.
Why it’s disappointing: This can stay put for this film.
What to watch out for: Anurag Kashyap is known for his rustic approach and always does that with élan. Not everyone can pull of rawness like he does, and not everyone can mock current affairs like he does. The film has 6 writers among which even the lead Vineet was one. That clearly shows the layers of emotions which were displayed on screen flawlessly. Every dialogue gets an applause as it creates an amazing impact on the audience and the humour was effortlessly induced in the film. Even during an intense scene, you’ll end up laughing at the humour which was perfectly packed in. You’ll have to give it to him on how he highlighted caste which both represents honour and shame. And how we are succumbed to the highest value of social currency.
Vineet Kumar Singh is going to be the most talked about actor who will shine endlessly here on for his stupendous performance as Shravan. He was so much under the skin of it that you don’t feel that an actor was on screen. A dedication which runs deep and hard to match with.
Zoya Hussain, an amazing find by Mukesh Chabbra once again. She was amazing, there were no dialogues for her but the way she emoted her character was laudable. Being the girl next door she doesn’t get lost in that innocence rather she brings in an amazing character which you get instantly smitten by. It never felt like she was a debut and most definitely gave a great performance.
Jimmy Shergill was at his evil best and his look was amazing. He’s one underrated actor and only a few directors have explored his potential to the max and Anurag is one of them.
Ravi Kishan, he’s another actor who will never go out of technique. He packs in a great performance and stands strong as Sanjay Kumar.
The cinematography by Rajeev Ravi, Shanker Raman, Jay Patel and Jayesh Nair was amazing, it travelled with the characters, which gave an authentic emotion to the film making it a solid one. Editing by Aarti Bajaj and Ankit Bidyadhar was crisp, you don’t feel the 155 minutes.
A film of this potential had music from an unusual bunch Nucleya and Rachita Arora who were spot on and gave a great variation. And the background score by Prashant Pillai was gripping.
Verdict: Anurag Kashyap, runs a parallel Bollywood which has its worth making you realize that the art of cinema wouldn’t get completely lost to glitz and glamour. And Mukkabaaz is a perfect example of it, where everything was perfectly balanced and was delivered with great diligence. Don’t miss this one for anything, please catch this at a theatre near you.
