Mukkabaaz (Hindi pronunciation: [mʊkkaːbaːz]), released internationally as The Brawler, is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language sports drama film co-written, co-produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap.

It follows Shravan Kumar (Singh), an aspiring boxer, who falls in love with the niece of the boxing federation head, Bhagwan Das Mishra (Shergill).

Several producers rejected it until Kashyap agreed to make the film on the condition that Singh would train to become a real boxer.

Aarti Bajaj and Ankit Bidyadhar edited the film, while Shanker Raman, Rajeev Ravi, Jay I. Patel and Jayesh Nair served as the directors of photography.

At the 64th Filmfare Awards, it received three nominations including Best Actor (Critics) for Vineet and Best Story for Anudeep Singh.

Shravan Singh is a struggling boxer who works for a local politician and head of the State Boxing Federation, Bhagwan Das Mishra.

Actor Vineet Kumar Singh said that he was not getting the kind of work he wanted in films, so he decided to write his own script on boxing, as he has an athletic background, having been a national-level basketball player who played at six National Games at the mini and sub-junior levels.

[5] He mentioned a single incident that triggered the script was seeing his senior, who had won several boxing medals and whose photographs had appeared in the newspaper, "stealthily porting luggage" at the Varanasi Junction railway station to make ends meet.

[3] While he was pitching his script, Singh also worked on his stamina for the role by running, skipping and cardio training for two hours every day.

[3] For Kashyap, it was boxing and the case of Narsingh Pancham Yadav, who was accused of doping, that prompted him to make the film.

[6] Singh said that he knew about the "politics, caste bias and power struggles in sports associations" but Kashyap developed the sociopolitical side of the script.

[3] Singh sold all his belongings and left Mumbai the same night for training after Kashyap decided to make the film.

[16] Singh's training began at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala, a year before filming.

[16] Delhi theatre actress Zoya Hussain makes her feature debut in the film playing a mute girl.

[6] Kashyap also realised that after attending an actual boxing tournament in north India that there was no audience apart from "people in power who decide which boxer should represent the state, and who will not".

[6] Aarti Bajaj and Ankit Bidyadhar edited the film, while Shanker Raman, Rajeev Ravi and Jayesh Nair served as the directors of photography.

[39] Rajeev Masand responded positively saying, "[..] populated by characters that are authentic and rooted firmly in the landscape, the film sees Kashyap on solid ground."

"[41] Raja Sen called it Kashyap's best film, made with "vintage filmi sensibility but highly modern skills".

"[44] The Hindu's Namrata Joshi wrote: "This is in no way a celebration of sports but a hard-nosed look at the rampant corruption, nepotism and casteist politics at the core of games, and life in general, especially their centrality in Uttar Pradesh.

"[45] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV praised Hussain and Zoya's performances and the treatment of cow vigilantism and wrote: "Watch it because it is one of the more important films to have come out of the Mumbai movie industry in recent times.

[47] Mayank Shekhar wrote: "Mukkabaaz marks Kashyap's fab return to a realm he understands and expresses best -- with all its flaws, angst and humour, Tarantino-esque pop-culture references, making it all as distressing as it is frickin' fun and real.

"[48] Rachit Gupta of Filmfare felt it was Kashyap's "most mature film to date" with "bits of Rocky, On the Waterfront and a whole lot of Romeo & Juliet".

[49] Uday Bhatia of Mint called it a "bracing start to the movie year" that is "overstuffed, enjoyable and urgent".

"[51] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express said that the "punches land in exactly the right place" when caste discrimination is addressed in the film.

"[55] Screen International's David D'Archy mentioned in his review: "Kashyap manages to pack caste inequality, corruption and a triumph over disability into a romantic melodrama built around the boxing ring.

"[56] Wendy Ide called the film an example of "gritty, grubby film-making" with "robustly filthy" dialogues, the violence "unflinching and the music loaded with innuendo".

[57] Mike McCahill of The Guardian called it "a heavy-hitting social critique disguised as a rock 'em–sock 'em sports movie.