Mary Kom Movie Review : Priyanka Chopra does well with the biopic

There is no doubt that MC Mary Kom is among one of the finest sports persons India has ever produced, and her achievements can be chronicled on celluloid, but are we ready to visualise a girl from a poor Manipuri village as it is?

Mary Kom goes on to show the real life story of this sports star, which not many are aware of. The film serves as an eye opener not just on the fact that India can produce international ‘gold medal winning’ boxers, but also that Manipur is very much a part of India!

Priyanka Chopra is in her elements and is the force behind the film. Leave aside her North-Indian features; she portrays the character with all her energy and talent. Her physique, her expressions and perfectly timed pauses give her the power to hold the audience till the climax of the film. Many of us would have problems with her accent but she does whatever she could, in capacity of the lead actor, to make Mary Kom an entertaining film. Darshan Kumaar is natural and Sunil Thapa is furious. I am just wondering, was it deliberate on the director’s part to choose Darshan as Onler Kom? Because, he can easily pass off as a North-Indian guy also.

The first few scenes of the film take cognizance of the unrest that Manipur has been witness to for decades and which has impacted the lives and livelihoods of the state’s youngsters caught in the crossfire between rebels and the security forces.

The film shows Mary Kom’s real struggles; like a pair of torn, tattered shoes during her practice (awww so sad!). Once she is not even recognised by a young girl who claims to be her big fan. (Tch, what kind of a fan is she, hmph?) Not only this, Mary’s labor lasts for hours till the doctors finally decide to go for a C-section, the kind of struggle that err… a lot of the women face worldwide. It’s this simplistic narrative that trivialises the inspiring sportsperson’s story and her real struggle.