Mukkabaaz Movie Review: The dark side of boxing

Anurag Kashyap is back with another one of his shake-your-core kind of movie. Mukkabaaz featuring Vineet Kumar Singh, Jimmy Shergill and Zoya Hussain can be one of the best movies of 2018 already.

Mukkabaaz is like a fresh air of realism in the world of glitzy and glamorous, and unrealistic Bollywood movies. The movie portrays aptly the dirty game of politics mixed with the sports of boxing.

Like all other movies based on sports, Mukkabaaz is also all about struggle, determination, failure and success. The only difference is the way politics is depicted in all its dirty glory.

The hero of the film played by Vineet Kumar Singh is an untrained boxer but still calls himself Mike Tysen of Uttar Pradesh. He is passionate, and idealistic which instantly makes him a victim of the corrupted political system. He is the angry young man who is aimless but has got a spine of steel which no one can bend. He is determined with his dream of winning the National level match and he will do anything for that.

Just like all Bollywood movies, the hero is supposed to have a heroine. In this movies, the heroine is a mute girl who likes to silently watch the hero practising. Both fell in love but the twist arrives when the hero realizes that his lover is actually the niece of a gangster/politician, played by Jimmy Shergill, who is against the struggling boxer and his ideas.

The film has some light moments, where the hero's household struggles with everything 'English' and refuses to give importance to his passion. Because what parents want their son capable of being a clerk to go into sports?

But the film also gets especially dark at places where dirty politics and caste system comes into play. Boxers and coaches are judged and mistreated on the basis of their castes and backgrounds by the corrupted politicians. This film depicts the poor conditions of boxers, like never before. Few scenes may make you wonder if they were ever taught humility.

Serious issues dealt with seriousness, and not sarcasm is one of the USPs of Anurag Kashyap's films. He brings out the various dark sides of the sports including politics and drugs on the screen in a very splendid manner.

Anurag Kashyap is targeting each and every kind of evil that he could find, through this film. One major evil the film Mukkabaaz deals with is, casteism. Wherever the hero goes, it follows him like a plague.

Anurag Kashyap's direction like always is on point and there is no complaining. Slow motion fist fighting never seems more enthralling. The picturisation and emotions are so good, you'll feel every minute of it.

The performance of all the actors is splendid. Zoya Hussain especially marks her presence through her strong expressions, since she doesn't have any dialogues in the film. Vineet Kumar Singh gave what might be the most legendary performance possible of his career. We could feel his passion penetrating to us through the screen.

This sports movie is not just another sports movie. It is much more than that. It takes us to the darker side, where sports is not just sports but business. It is a way of controlling people and earning money.

Mukkabazz is one of the best movies which could have started our 2018. It is one movie which you shouldn't miss.