17 years on, this ‘Mukkabaaz’ finally gets to pack a punch

Actor Vineet Kumar Singh has put everything at stake to make his dream project turn into a reality.

He wrote the initial script, brought ace director Anurag Kashyap on board, sold his belongings, including his car, to arrange money for training and went through a year-long intensive regime in Patiala.

“I broke my rib bone, sustained deep cuts and got numerous injuries during the course of training with boxers who used to land punches on me. After sustaining countless blows, I started learning the defense mechanism which was my first major lesson,” the actor said during a tête-à-tête with HT City on his recent visit to Lucknow.

His quest for Mukkabaaz began before the release of Ugly (2014).

“Ugly was shot and premiered at Toronto in 2013, a year before its theatrical release. Since then I have not done any major film as roles were not the ones I was looking for,” says Vineet, who has been struggling in the industry for over 17 years.

“Since time was running out for me, I started writing this script for myself,” says the actor, who is a qualified doctor.

Also a national level basketball player, Vineet was aware of ground realities of sports.

“I have experienced politics in sports, discrimination on caste basis, low quality of food, poor living conditions and favouritism. Sporting career is very small and by the time people understand it all, their time is over. So, I wrote the film which everyone liked but they wanted me as a writer not actor which I disagreed.”

Anurag Kashyap agreed to direct the film but on two conditions.

“That he will modify script and I have to become a boxer. And it’s good that he modified it. I wrote it to sportsman’s perspective but now with the vision of Anurag (sir) anyone can relate to the film — how the protagonist is stuck between job, wife, family, coach and the game. I literally sold everything I had. Even today, I am commuting on rickshaw and cycle,” he tells.

Vineet also wrote the songs Paintra and Adhoore Main Adhoori Tu.

During the course of the film he had real fight was ace boxers. “I had fight with 3 times WBC Asia title holder Neeraj Goyat, 3 times national gold medalist Deepak Tanwar and Asian Games player Sandeep Yadav in the film. We could not afford boxing choreographer so after ‘action’ all fights was impromptu and real. I just could not stop thanking my trainers and boxers who open-heartedly supported me,” he says.

With the movie opening to good reviews, he is now looking forward to 2018 which has a few more releases lined up. Sudhir Mishra’s DaasDev where he will be seen with Richa Chadha and Rahul Bhat is expected to hit screens next month. Later, in August, he will be seen in Reema Kagti’s Gold with Akshay Kumar and Moni Roy.

“The film was shot last year in four cities in UK, Punjab and Mumbai. With Mukkabaaz opening to rave reviews I have high hopes from 2018,” he says.

DHEERAJ DHAWAN/HT Actor Vineet Kumar Singh