As told to Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 25, 2019)

Since I was not getting the kind of work I wanted, I decided to script a sports-drama. My sister, Mukti Singh Srinet, and I are basketball players. I have played six national games and seen from up close the struggle of athletes in our country in the face of indifferent officials, political pressures, lack of facilities and meagre finances. Mukkabaaz grew out of the shock of seeing a once-feted senior boxer working as a porter and lugging bags at Varanasi Junction railway station. When I started researching for my script, I learnt of other athletes who had sold medals to make ends meet. There was another one who had to take up work as a sweeper.

After completing the script, I decided I wanted to play the protagonist, a talented pugilist, Shravan Kumar Singh, and started training in the sport while scouting for a director. It was a long journey, spanning two-and-a-half years during which I learnt the basics of boxing, before Anurag Kashyap agreed to direct the film. I had worked with him in Gangs Of Wasseypur, Bombay Talkies and Ugly and he was ready to direct my desi Rocky. His only condition was that I should look as convincing as any professional boxer.

In Mumbai, it’s difficult to train in pure boxing as most of the coaches are into mix martial arts, so I decided to shift to Patiala where I had a chance of training with professionals. I prepped with them for a year without them realising that I was learning the sport for a film. Had they known, they would have never taken me seriously.

The training sessions were long and rigorous, replete with potential accidents. I broke my ribs once, but by the end of my prep, I had managed to impress my coaches with my dedication. I developed neuromuscular reflexes at an age when most boxers retire. It was a miracle because the body stops responding to training after a certain age. In all, it was a four-year prep till the film went on the floors.

We were determined to keep all the fights non-choreographed and real as the film featuring professional international boxers. The reactions, reflexes and punches were all spontaneous without us compromising on anything. By then, I was trained to put up a good fight even against a boxer representing a country on an international platform.

After Mukkabaaz, I wanted to take up another sports film and auditioned for Reema Kagti’s Gold which revolved around India’s first hockey win in the Olympics as an independent nation. As opposed to my bulky look in Mukkabaaz, this one required a leaner body since people didn’t hit the gym in 1930s and ’40s. So, I changed my diet plan as well as my workout schedule to break all the muscle I had built. The hockey training sessions with the team were not difficult because I had played the sport in my childhood. That aside, the extensive boxing sessions had given me the strength to train like an international athlete, so I only had to work on polishing my skills.

The hockey sticks used in the ’30s and ’40s, however, were very different from the ones used today. They were heavy with thick blades, and that made it difficult to control the ball initially. Another challenge was to play on artificial grass as I had played on the turf as a kid. But I think I managed to do a convincing job as Imtiaz Ali, who was a part of the Indian team but after Partition crossed the border and went on to captain the ‘other side’.

Every character I play has its own graph. I make it a point to discuss them with the writer and director first to get their points of view before jumping into the prep. For my upcoming films, Adhar and Saand Ki Aankh, I had to learn two different lingos, from Jharkhand and Punjab respectively. I interacted with locals for around four months. This helped me imbibe and incorporate local characteristics into my performance as well.

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 1, 2018)

After featuring in Anurag Kashyap’s sports-drama, Mukkabaaz, which received a standing ovation during its premier in Mumbai, Vineet Kumar Singh has now signed National Award-winning Newton filmmaker Manish Mundra’s next production. Titled Adhar, it will be directed by another National Award winner, Bengali filmmaker Suman Ghosh, whose 2006 film Podokkhep featuring Nandita Das and Soumitra Chatterjee had won in the Best Feature Film in Bengali category.

“Manish sir praised my performance in Mukkabaaz and said that I reminded him of a young Naseer saab (Naseeruddin Shah) in one of my interviews. It’s a huge compliment for me and I love the films he has produced, right from Ankhon Dekhi to Newton. One day I got a call from his office saying that they wanted to narrate a story to me, after which I met director Suman Ghosh and immediately fell in love with the script,” Vineet says, adding that Suman is also a professor of Economics in Florida.

Prod him on the film and he says, “Taking a cue from the film’s title Adhar, there are two aspects to it — one: it means base and the other is the Aadhar card and we are exploring both these aspects among many other things that are happening in our society. Manish sir’s films are rooted, which is also the case with this one, but it will also appeal to the masses. After Mukkabaaz, I was looking for the right film and after being offered nearly 100 scripts I finally zeroed down on this one.”

Vineet reveals that he has never played a character like this before. “It’s the story of a common man left behind in the society’s race to development. We will start shooting in December or January at the Bengal-Bihar border and in Jharkhand. I will start prepping closer to the shooting date,” he informs.

Speaking of his life in the post-Mukkabaaz era, the actor-writer says that things have changed a lot and for the better. “I have never experienced all this — being identified on the streets and suchlike. I still ride a cycle as I had to sell my car and a few other things for my training in Mukkabaaz in which I had played a boxer,” smiles Vineet.

Is there another collaboration with Anurag on the cards too? “We are discussing something and hopefully it should work out,” he signs off.

Actor Vineet Kumar Singh on what kept him going in his 18 years of struggle before success in Bollywood
Deebashree Mohanty (TIMES LIFE; April 8, 2018)

The 38-year-old actor from Varanasi, who found success with Mukkabaaz, was so keen on the role of a boxer that he left everything and went to train in mixed martial arts (MMA) for two years before taking on the role in Anurag Kashyap’s film. Here, Vineet Kumar Singh tells us how boxing as a sport helped him rethink his failures, and prepared him for success.

Did the acting bug hit you early?
I was hardly 8. The only audience I had for my furtive performances were my younger brother and sister. They enjoyed every act. But the moment everyone at home came to know I wanted to join NSD, all hell broke loose. It was an earth-shattering moment, an ajooba (miracle) for my family because everyone was either into academics or sports. Acting was never a ‘real’ profession for a typical middle-class family like ours. I had to change my tactics and be smart about my options to realise my dream.

Your big break, Pitaah , bombed at the B.O.
That was a rude awakening. I had thought after the release of the film, my name would be splashed all across TV channels, producers would line up at my doorstep. I thought “Main toh hero ban gaya!” But boom! The movie came and went, I was hardly noticed.

How did you cope?
My elder sister, a professor in Banaras Hindu University, and I, secretly broke FDs that belonged to my siblings. I would take up any scene, any role that came my way. I would play a ghost, cop or a rag picker in DD afternoon serials. But going home was never an option.

You took your role of playing a boxer rather seriously...
I am a method actor. When Anurag Kashyap asked me to become a boxer; I packed my bags and left for Patiala. There was a year of rigorous training which included four schedules daily. The first one started at 5 am, then there was a gym session mid noon. The next boxing session was at 5 pm followed by one hour of swimming. I felt dead when I hit the sack.

How was it dealing with other boxers during the training?
The others had no idea I was an actor. They thought I was a crazy old man who suddenly wanted to bear all the blows for some stupid reason. After every injury, they were certain I would return to wherever I had come from.

Did boxing help you personally?
There is a popular saying in the sports world – anyone who is sure about their stamina needs to step into a boxing ring for 2 minutes. If you come out unscathed (mentally), you are a winner. Boxing actually makes you a calmer person too. Most of your angst, whining will find a way out with the punches and blows. I also learnt the importance of defending. Life isn’t all about attack. Sometimes, you have to be prepared to defend yourself too.