Mukkabaaz

Mukkabaaz, released internationally as The Brawler, is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language sports drama film co-written, co-produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap. Jointly produced by Aanand L. Rai's Colour Yellow Productions and Phantom Films, the film stars Vineet Kumar Singh, debutant Zoya Hussain, Ravi Kishan and Jimmy Shergill in the lead roles. It follows Shravan Kumar (Singh), an aspiring boxer, who falls in love with the niece of the boxing federation head, Bhagwan Das Mishra (Shergill). Kashyap, Singh, Mukti Singh Srinet, K.D.Satyam, Ranjan Chandel and Prasoon Mishra wrote the script. Mukkabaaz was conceived by Singh, who wrote it with his sister Mukti Singh, based on his observations of several sportspersons' experiences in India. Several producers rejected it until Kashyap agreed to make the film if Singh would become a real boxer. To prepare, Singh went to the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, where he trained in boxing for a year. Aarti Bajaj and Ankit Bidyadhar edited the film, while Shanker Raman, Rajeev Ravi, Jay I. Patel and Jayesh Nair served as the directors of photography. The score is composed by Prashant Pillai and the songs are composed by Singh, Nucleya and Rachita Arora. Mukkabaaz premiered in the Special Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and was also screened at the 2017 Mumbai Film Festival. It was released theatrically in India on 12 January 2018 and received mostly positive reviews, with particular praise for Singh's performance. The film grossed at the box office. At the 64th Filmfare Awards, it received three nominations including Best Actor (Critics) for Vineet and Best Story for Anudeep Singh. Vikram Dahiya and Sunil Rodrigues won the award for Best Action. Plot Shravan Singh is a struggling boxer who works for a local politician and head of the State Boxing Federation, Bhagwan Das Mishra. He drifts away after Mishra has him perform only domestic tasks and errands rather than boxing training. Singh falls in love with Mishra's niece, Sunaina, who is mute. Her father tells him to get a job first before thinking about marrying her. For the job, Singh tries to enter the state-level tournament but is not selected because of Mishra. He then leaves for Varanasi and is trained by a local trainer, Sanjay Kumar.