Movie Review - Mukkabaaz - A Smashing First Half Brings On The Energy

Rating: 3/5 stars

Anurag Kashyap has had some rough times at the Box Office with his last few releases. If Bombay Velvet was a non-starter, Raman Raghav 2.0 went nowhere. Hence, when he announced Mukkabaaz, one wondered what he had to offer this time around. However, there was good momentum that built two weeks leading to the film's release and soon enough it was being said loud and clear that this is his most massy film till date.

Well, I had the same thought too till the interval point flashed on screen. Really, the entire first half spanning around 75 minutes is an absolute riot in Mukkabaaz. There is a hero <Vineet Kumar Singh>, a heroine <Zoya Hussain> and a villain <Jimmy Sheirgill> with a lethal cocktail of romance and boxing. Add to that the aesthetics of Aanand L. Rai and the rustic narrative of Anurag Kashyap and I joined the crowd in claps and cheers even in a multiplex setting. Honestly, I enjoyed all the fun right through, what with dialogues, music, edit pattern, small town appeal - just about everything coming together so very well.

It is the second half where I ended up wondering where has the film started heading. Just when it seemed that the politics behind sports was actually through and it is time to bring on the third and final act, it's the second act that gets so much stretched that it started seeming like another film. Suddenly, the battle between Vineet and Jimmy (which was the best part about the film's first half) takes a backseat and the life and times of Vineet and his marital life with Zoya ends up taking center-stage. Add to that the elongated episode around the humiliation that Vineet faces at the workplace and the drama gets overbearing.

Even this could well have been okay but what brings the pace of the narrative further down is the music in the second half which just doesn't register its presence. One after another there are four-five songs that come up and each one of them is ultra slow and utterly forgettable, something that dilutes the superb impact that Anurag Kashyap had created right till the interval point.

Yes, there are flashes of comeback intermittently whenever Jimmy Sheirgill comes back on scene again. It is his menacing act (a la something similar that he had done so very well in lesser known but reasonably decent film Shorgul) that is the highlight of the drama that Anurag Kashyap brings in the narrative. This is also the time when you miss Ravi Kishan in his characteristic avtar. Yes, he is fine with what he does but somehow he is way too subdued when compared to the acting style that he typically brings on the screen.

As for the man who has immense screen presence in Mukkabaaz, it is none other than Vineet Kumar Singh who is indeed the find of the current times. Yes, he has been around for a while in Bollywood but he makes Mukkabaaz his own and that is no mean feat considering the fact that he is a newcomer and had a very tough role to play. It is one thing to build a solid body and make it all shine on for screen. On the other hand to keep it all authentic and couple your physical form with true acting talent is something which is quite tough, and this is where Vineet scores quite a few brownie points. He is the star of the show.

The film too could well have earned an extra star if not for the stretched second half and the overflow of the songs. Had it all been under control and the film would have just wrapped up in two hours, Mukkabaaz could have been thrown a much stronger punch.