Mukkabaaz~ 'Ye pyaar nahi hai khel priye!'

Cast: Vineet Singh, Jimmy Shergill, Zoya Hussain, Ravi Kishan

Co-Writer and Director: Anurag Kashyap

Budget- 10 Crores approximately

Best Dialogue- "Jab boxer ko chot lagti hai to khoon coach ka hi behta hai."

If like me you also wondered that why is the film called Mukkabaaz, the director has kept an explanatory scene.

Ravi Kishan, the coach tells his student that he always wanted to be a boxer but he never got a chance to play professionally because he belonged to the lower caste..On streets people used to say.. "Wo dekho sala mukkabaaz ja raha hai".

So now he doesn't want his students to let go of the chance to be a professional boxer and tells them, “Ab ye tumhe tay karna hai ki tumhe mukkabaaz banna hai ya mukkebaaz”.

The film focuses on the caste system and the dirty politics in sports which is very prevalent in small-towns of U.P.

Shravan Singh, an aspiring boxer sees a girl at his coach Bhagwan Das’s house and falls in love. To impress her, he refuses to do the household chores which Bhagwan Das expects all his players to do. By mistake Shravan punches Bhagwan Das and he threatens Shravan that he will end his boxing career.

The film’s name suggests a film on boxing but most of the fighting in the film takes place outside the ring.

There’s a son fighting with his father who keeps taunting him for not landing a regular job like others. He tells him that he failed in studies because he wasn't a bright student. He doesn't mind telling his parents, “Jab aap dono shoonya hai to hum kaha se Aryabhatt ho jaye!

There’s a girl who is fighting with her mother that just because she can't speak she doesn’t want anyone to take pity on her or consider her a handicap. She wants to marry for love and do higher studies.

Then there is a honest coach who is fighting for his students.. He shaves off his moustache and when one of his students asks the reason he says, "jab tum mai se koi state jeetega tab rakhenge”.

There’s a Brahmin coach who for his greed for money and power destroys careers of aspiring boxers and crushes those who dare to raise a voice against him.

The characters are powerful and keep us entertained for the first half. The second half is darker and we cheer for the protagonist who despite the hurdles he faces, refuses to give up his dream.

The songs, Mushkil hai apna mail priye, Bahut hua samman, Bahut dukha man, Fir to ho gayi haathapai, Paintra are a part of the story and keep us involved in it.

Though I wonder what was Nawazuddin Siddiqui doing in a song which looked like a remake of the hit song, ‘emotional atyachar’ from DevD.

The climax of the film was beyond my understanding and  can be the reason for the mixed word of mouth.

The film had low buzz because of which it has earned less than 5 Crores in 4 days.

In a line, Vineet Singh is no hero material but the way he has transformed himself into Shravan Singh is commendable.

Can be seen in theaters.

Ugly - It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World

Release date - 26'th December 

2014
One Word which describes the film -Dark

Best Dialogue - 

Chaitanya-'Sir,actor log aisa karte hai ki ghar par ek naam aur parde par doosra.'
Inspector Jadhav- Accha, to Amitabh Bachchan ka ghar ka naam kya hai.'

Genre - Suspense/Thriller 

Music -G. V. Prakash Kumar

Producer - DAR Motion Pictures, Phantom Films

Story & Direction -Anurag Kashyap

Cast -Rahul Bhat, Ronit Roy, Girish Kulkarni, Siddhanth Kapoor, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Vineet Kumar Singh, Vipin Sharma, Surveen Chawla

Budget- 5-6 crores (approximately)

The film starts with a depressed and alcoholic woman contemplating ways to end her life. The first thought which comes in our mind is maybe she considers herself ugly. But slowly as the plot unfolds we come to know that the film is about the wicked ways of the world and how darkness resides inside every individual which overcomes all love and relations.

The story is about the people in the life of a woman, her daughter, her husband, her ex-husband, her brother and her friend. The woman's daughter disappears which lead to an array of events which show the selfishness, cruelty and wickedness of the lead characters.

Ronit Roy is perfect as the head of police detection unit. He is ruthless, shows no mercy and trusts no one. 

Rahul Bhat plays the role of a struggling actor. Though this is his first film he has given stiff competition to Ronit Roy in their scenes together.

Tejaswini is waiting for her Bollywood debut since 2000 but sadly her debut film Paanch, also directed by Anurag Kashyap was never released in theaters. She plays the role of a depressed housewife perfectly. 

Surveen Chawla is the eye candy of the film. 

Siddhant Kapoor has a small role and in one scene where he does a crazy dance he looks exactly like his father Shakti Kapoor.

Vineet Kumar plays the role of a casting director who plays an important role in the lives of the lead actors.

Marathi actor Girish Kulkarni is superb as Inspector Jadhav. His body language and expressions are just perfect. There is subtle humor in his scenes. 

With these characters Anurag has written an intriguing story where he takes us on a roller coaster ride through the streets of Mumbai where we go through different emotions and feelings which at times make us doubt the sanctity of various relations we make in our lifetime.

The film has all the features of a typical Kashyap film, lots of violence, abuses, drama, twists along with a strong message.

Ugly has been in news since last year as the Indian Censor Board required a "Smoking is Injurious to Health" sign to be flashed whenever a character in the film is shown smoking but Anurag Kashyap fought this regulation stating, ' It's the Health Ministry that should take the responsibility of curbing use of tobacco and work towards measures to control it and films should not be a medium to advertise non-smoking.'

Finally the film is released along with the statutory warning but Kashyap could not have chosen a worse time for release. The cold waves in the North kept the audience away from theaters and those who went chose to watch last week's much acclaimed release 'PK' 

In a line the film has a dark and disturbing story, full of violence and cuss words and is surely not meant for the romantics or weak-hearted.

Watch at your own risk. Can be seen if you like dark thrillers.