Healing is probably one of the last things you would associate with boxing. But to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the sport has a healing quality, giving the pugilists an outlet to vent their suppressed angst. It is with this idea that he walked into Toofaan. “While reading autobiographies of boxing champions, I realised that boxing is a form of expression. The greatest fighters have come from marginalised sections of society. When life doesn’t [deal] you a fair hand, you will step into the ring and express [your agony]. Being in the ring then becomes like a healing touch. Such psychological observations were important in making the film,” says the director.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra