Wanted Anurag Kashyap to act in my project, says Zoya Hussain

Newcomer Zoya Hussain harboured the dream of directing Anurag Kashyap in a film, but the project took a backseat as the duo came together for her acting debut, Mukkabaaz. Hussain says she had known the filmmaker for a while and was looking for an opportunity to collaborate with him. "I had done theatre, but not modelling. I had written a short play, based on Kamala Das' short story, that I wanted to adapt into a film. I wanted him [Kashyap] to act in it and met him through a friend. I was part of a film called Three And Half Takes. He saw it and liked it."

Anurag Kashyap

The newcomer says the play never took off and later they started working on Mukkabaaz. "I hope to revisit it. I write as well and at some point, I want to develop my own scripts as well. I will direct it. I will not act in it," she adds. Hussain says when Kashyap offered her a part in the film, she wasn't sure if he was merely poking fun at her. "I did not know if he was serious. He had sent me the script of Mukkabaaz, and I loved it. I was secretly hoping that I could tell him I want to do this film." Zoya, who plays a speech impaired character, said the disability symbolises the lack of the voice that women need in society. She learnt sign language, which she describes as "daunting and exciting."
The film addresses the issue of caste system by tracing the story of a boxer from Uttar Pradesh, played by Vineet Kumar Singh.

Zoya Hussain and Vineet Kumar Singh in Mukkabaaz

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