Of bad days & good fights

Mukkabaaz

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Mukkabaaz, a sports drama film, is co-written, co-produced, and directed by Anurag Kashyap. It has been produced jointly by Anand L. Rai and Phantom Films. The film stars Vineet Kumar Singh, Zoya Hussain, Ravi Kishan and Jimmy Shergill in lead roles.

The film revolves around a low-caste boxer (Shravan) who trains at a gym controlled by a local don (Bhagwan Das Mishra). Shravan falls for Mishra's niece (Sunaina), but Mishra does not approve of the match. Shravan strives to win Sunaina's hand in marriage and becomes a successful boxer while trying to avoid retaliation from the don.

Reality check

It’s a rather astute look at the rampant corruption, nepotism, and casteism in sports, and life in general, especially in Uttar Pradesh. I love the film. It’s a must-watch!

Bhawana Sanyal, student

Language that bites

I love the chemistry between Shravan and Sunaina; the boy’s a little too shy, the girl’s a little too aggressive and direct. Also, the dialogues are brilliant and the actors have managed to get the dialect right.

Aarushi Sachdeva, student

Bharat mata ki jai

Everything aside, I love the way Anurag Kashyap punctuates the film with a sarcastic Bharat Mata Ki Jai, instead of The End plate. It’ll get my family to watch this film too.

Amarjeet Singh, businessperson

Kaalakaandi

Kaalakaandi is a black comedy film, starring Saif Ali Khan. The film is directed and written by Akshat Verma and is produced by Rohit Khattar and Ashi Dua. Kaalakaandi is a Marathi slang for when things go disastrously wrong. The film is a dark comedy about life, death and karma.

Long & short of it

I utterly resent watching long films, especially if it has a lot of sub-plots. This film is unbearably slow and there’s a little bit of everything happening in the film... Saif’s dying of gastric cancer, his friend Angad is getting married, and then there are gangsters too. It’s beyond my understanding.

Bahaar Chadha, student

Artsy & quirky

It’s a surreal, madcap film that has a bit of eccentricity to it. However, I enjoyed watching it. I think Saif Ali Khan has acted really well even though the storyline of the film wasn’t so good.

Unnati Sharma, student

(As told to Amarjot Kaur)