Mukkabaaz
- Director
- Anurag Kashyap
- Studio
- Phantom FilmsColour Yellow Productions
- Release Date
- 11 January 2018
- Running Time
- 155 min
- Language
- Hindi
- Country
- India
- Budget
- ₹12.00 Cr
- Box Office
- ₹10.51 Cr
Review
Anurag Kashyap's "Mukkabaaz" is a film that swings between raw authenticity and melodramatic excess, much like its protagonist's journey inside the boxing ring. The story of Shravan—a man caught between his passion for boxing and the suffocating grip of a political patriarch—resonates deeply because it speaks to so many of us who've felt trapped between ambition and circumstances beyond our control. Vineet Kumar Singh delivers a performance that is genuinely moving; you feel his frustration, his desperation, his quiet determination in every frame. The chemistry between him and Zoya Hussain carries an understated tenderness that makes their relationship feel earned rather than imposed. What works most powerfully is how the film captures the systemic cruelty of power—Bhagwan Das isn't just a villain, he's a representation of how those in authority can casually destroy lives without consequence.
Yet somewhere in the second half, the film loses its footing. The narrative becomes increasingly convoluted, piling on tragedy after tragedy until it feels less like a character's struggle and more like relentless punishment. The sign language subplot, while touching in intent, feels underdeveloped and sometimes distracts from the core emotional journey. Kashyap's direction has moments of brilliant visual storytelling—the boxing sequences are visceral and alive—but he also indulges in heavy-handed symbolism that undercuts the film's naturalistic strength. The film's ambitions
Storyline
So this movie follows this guy named Shravan who's really passionate about boxing, but he's stuck working under this powerful political guy named Bhagwan Das who basically just uses him as a personal assistant instead of actually training him. Shravan ends up falling head over heels for Bhagwan Das's niece Sunaina, who doesn't speak, and her dad tells him he needs to get a proper job before they can even think about getting married. The whole situation gets complicated because Bhagwan Das won't let him compete in tournaments, so Shravan has to go to another city to train with a new coach and work his way up from there.
Eventually Shravan manages to win a boxing match and land himself a job with the railways, which means he can finally marry Sunaina like her father wanted. But here's where things get messy—Bhagwan Das is absolutely furious about the marriage and starts taking his anger out on everyone around them. He messes with Shravan's job by overloading him with work, and he even gets Sunaina's whole family kicked out of their house, forcing them to move to a village. Meanwhile, Shravan's trying to juggle everything—his new job, his boxing training, spending time with his wife, and even learning sign language for her.
The situation spirals into something really dark when Shravan and his boxing trainer get attacked by an angry mob under false pretenses, leaving the trainer seriously hurt. Shravan has to deal with all this chaos while desperately trying to find his wife and figure out what Bhagwan Das's next move will be. It becomes a real test of how far he'll go to protect the people he loves and stand up against the corruption that's been destroying his life.
