Anurag Kashyap isn’t known for holding himself back. In social media, he has been quite vocal against the right-wing politics of rabid nationalism and cow politics that has taken over the country. The rise in hate politics around the world has made the debate of art addressing politics all the more relevant. If ever there was a director in Hindi cinema who could walk the tightrope of balancing art with a political message, it was Kashyap.
Kashyap is known for making hard-hitting films that revolve around vengeance and the dark side of human nature. We have heard about it in Paanch, his unreleased debut film that didn’t sit well with the Censor Board. We have seen him explore the morally dubious in Ugly and Raman Raghav 2.0. In the two-part Gangs of Wasseypur, he told an epic story of a family feud that spanned for decades. Even Dev D, his retelling of the iconic story of Devdas was bleak and moody. But with Mukkabaaz, Kashyap makes his most socially conscious film to date.
The story is set in Uttar Pradesh, the hotbed of divisional politics. Shravan Singh (Vineet Kumar Singh) is an aspiring boxer who wants to represent his country at the highest level. A spirited boxer he may be but is treated as no more than an errand boy by his coach and local politician, the beady-eyed Bhagwan Das Mishra (Jimmy Shergill). When he speaks of his disappointment to the influential Mishra, he is beaten up by his goons. It doesn’t help that prior to the beating, Shravan had fallen head over heels with Mishra’s feisty niece Sunaina (Zoya Hussain), a mute.
Shravan marries the girl before the intermission, but to borrow a phrase from the end credits from 80’s Hindi movies: It’s not the end, it’s just the beginning. It is after the intermission, the complex beauty of Mukkabaaz unfolds. Kashyap and his team of writers take us through the bureaucracy in the governing body in sports and railways by tying it with Shravan’s aspirations and it makes for some riveting viewing.
The pressure of trying to balance his newly-married life and an egoistic boss who berates him at any opportunity builds up to a fantastic scene where Shravan confronts him with that stirring “Jaante hain na hum kaun hain? Mike Tyson hain Uttar Pradesh ke” (Do you know who I am? I am the Mike Tyson of Uttar Pradesh). The quick cuts that mark the start of his day, the thinly veiled insults at the workplace, his inability to devote time to his wife and boxing, and a subdued background score that underlines his growing helplessness add on to, what in my opinion, is the scene of the year.
Vineet Kumar Singh, who up until Mukkabaaz, was probably known as “that actor who plays Manoj Bajpayee’s son in Gangs of Wasseypur” or “the devious friend in Ugly”, has stamped his authority with a stellar performance. He not only looks the part but also brings an earnestness to Shravan which makes it easier to root for him. Singh is supported by a stellar cast of character actors like Rajesh Tailang (Shravan’s father), Shree Dhar Dubey (Gopal Tiwari), Sunaina’s mother (name unknown), or the actor who plays Shravan’s friend Gopal (name unknown).
Sunaina is a strongly written female character who demands to be treated with dignity and doesn’t cower down with fear of her uncle. She dares to look the frightening Bhagwan Das Mishra in the eye even when her own parents know better. Debutant Zoya Hussain lights up Sunaina with a passion that makes her worth the fight.
Ravi Kishan is brilliant as the seasoned Dalit coach Sanjay Kumar, turning in one of the finest performances of his career. While the hot-headed Shravan and Sanjay Kumar have faced injustices owing to their background, Kumar has learned to rein in his anger–a lesson he seeks to impart to his pupil Shravan. Kishan conveys Sanjay Kumar’s simmering anger with a deep, unwavering tone, intense eyes, and an upright bearing even when taunted for his humble background.
In a film full remarkable performances, it is the former chocolate boy Jimmy Shergill whose beady and bloodshot-eyed Bhagwan Das Mishra elevates Mukkabaaz to a whole new level. As Bhagwan (which literally means God), Shergill is frighteningly good as a former boxer turned politician who establishes his fiefdom in the Uttar Pradesh Boxing Federation. He holds the power to make or break a boxer. He has the temerity to ask a boxer to gulp down his urine if he wishes to save his career.
There are several instances in Mukkabaaz where humor plays an essential role in lightening the mood, be it in the songs (notably Mushkil hai apna) or the naturally flowing conversations between the characters. Kashyap’s expertise over the Uttar Pradesh dialect and the comfort with which a majority of the UP-hailing cast of actors deliver their lines lend authenticity to the settings.
Mukkabaaz is a film that dares to question the hypocrisy of the Establishment. Be it Shravan who fights the privileged that gets to judge someone who got their job through a sports quota or the revolutionary songs that literally say “Bahut hua samman teri aisi taisi.”
In Mukkabaaz, Kashyap gives us a hero who is fighting an uphill battle against casteism and bigotry. These are enemies our society has been nurturing for years. It would be naive of the viewer to expect that Kashyap will show his hero wipe out social injustice in a span of two hours. Though all ends well for Shravan, it comes at a price. Maybe this is the takeaway from Mukkabaaz after all, that the ignorance and hatred embedded in our social and political structures will always ensure that the ones fighting against it will have compromises to make. But sometimes, you need to lose a battle if you are to win the war.
Image credit: https___www.comingtrailer.com_images_poster_Mukkabaaz2
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