Anurag Kashyap on the B-Word and How ‘Mukkabaaz’ Is a Family Film

You will never believe what Anurag Kashyap’s dream job was before he became a filmmaker.

With the cast and director of Mukkabaaz.

(Photo: The Quint)

Anurag Kashyap loves being behind the camera and so he is back with his next film Mukkabaaz, starring Vineet Singh and Zoya Hussain. It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and it received a standing ovation at the 2017 Mumbai Film Festival.

Mukkabaaz is set in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly and inspired by a true story. Vineet Singh plays boxer Shravan Singh who has to take on a ruthless local boxing association member who is hell-bent on destroying his career. It’s the protagonist’s battle for victory over the forces of prejudice and corruption. Shravan's love interest, Sunaina is hearing and speech impaired and is being played by newcomer Zoya Hussain.

Interestingly, there are no boxing choreographers or action directors in Mukkabaaz. Singh trained for two years to play the boxer’s role, and did not disclose to his coach and fellow boxers that he was preparing for a role in film .

It’s also a time in the country when ‘b’ stands for beef. Anurag is known to give a political touch to his films and set in Uttar Pradesh that this film is, beef politics is an obvious theme in Mukkabaaz. It of course also deals with the issue of caste system and cattle slaughter. When The Quint asked him about lynching, Anurag said, “Most lynchings happen to settle personal scores.”

The script was initially written by actor Vineet Singh and few other writers and later Anurag developed it even as the shoot was in progress. The film also stars Jimmy Sheirgill in a negative role. The film is produced jointly by Anand L Rai and Anurag Kashyap.

Mukkabaaz is set to hit theatres on 12th January 2018.

Camera: Sanjoy Deb

Editor: Kammaljiit Kainth

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