MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2017 to kick off with Anurag Kashyap's Mukkabaaz

Following Aligarh (2016) and Death in the Gunj (2017) in recent years, Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaaz will be the opening film at the 19th Mumbai Film Festival being held on 12 -17 October.

Starring Vineet Kumar Singh (who has also co-written the script) and Zoya Hussain, the film is about a lower-caste boxer played by Singh who hopes to become an all-Indian champion.

The Mumbai Film Festival made the announcement on 7 September via their Twitter handle. The tweet stated, “Thrilled to announce the #MAMIOpeningFilm: #AsiaPremiere of @anuragkashyap72’s #Mukkabaaz. #JioMAMIWithStar2017”

Mukkabaaz will be making its Asian premiere at the festival. The film is already set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (where it is having its world premiere) and the London Film Festival before its debut in front of a home audience.

Anurag Kashyap tweeted his thanks back to the festival on Twitter.

The filmmaker has been a long-time supporter of the home grown festival. Last year, Anurag Kashyap was on the international competition jury of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival along with film critic and filmmaker Miguel Gomes, producer Christine Vachon, filmmaker Tala Hadid and Hot Docs president Chris McDonald.

Indian film fans will not have to wait long after the festival to watch the film as it is slated to release in India on 10 November. Mukkabaaz is co-produced by filmmaker Aanand L Rai and also stars Jimmy Shergill and Ravi Kishan.