Movie Review: ��Mary Kom�۪
Female orientated Bollywood films are not new but when a powerhouse actress like Priyanka Chopra is taking the lead, the industry will sit up and take notice. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the ‘Mary Kom’ biopic, namely about debut director Omung Kumar�۪s casting of Chopra as the world champion boxer of the same name and the fact she looks nothing like her in real life. The trailers for this film brought the chatter to an end with Chopra being shown as the boxer, training hard and proving she truly is a chameleon when it comes to taking on a role. The songs for this film were also creating waves with the audience, namely with Chopra�۪s voice being leant to lullaby Chaoro and Arijit Singh sung Sukoon Mila.
Mary Kom (Priyanka Chopra) is a hot headed schoolgirl who, despite her obvious love for boxing, is made to take part in athletics by her farmer father who deems it to be more suitable for a girl. Mary is not afraid to pick fights with the boys and stumbles upon a boxing training centre in the process, where the coach agrees to train her. This is where her story begins as she is inducted into the world of boxing against her father�۪s wishes and learns to make her world all about boxing. The film tells the story of Mary�۪s rise through the boxing circuits and her struggle to balance out life between boxing and her family, headed up by devoted husband Onler (Darshan Kumar).
Biopics are something which are rarely seen in Bollywood cinema, partly because there is a tendency for directors to romanticise real life, and sadly Kumar has fallen into this trap too. In order to make this film more appealing to the audience, he does tend to shy away from exploring more complex ideas like the corrupt sporting officials and the Manipur�۪s troubled history of insurgency and the armed forces. Despite touching upon it, the storylines are quickly disregarded and Manipur is shown to be a picturesque village like any other in India. The director is determined to get the audience in tears and fictionalises some events like Mary�۪s son nearly dying while she is at the world championships ��� something which did not happen at all.
The film�۪s saving grace is Priyanka Chopra. She once again proves that she is a one woman team when it comes to bringing a film to life and she does this in ‘Mary Kom’. Throughout the film, the audience�۪s eyes are drawn to her and she is completely committed to bring Kom�۪s struggles to life on screen. Chopra does try to get under the skin of Kom�۪s character and this is clear to see in every single scene. She has the unique ability to show off her vulnerability in her eyes and despite the lack of resemblance between her and Mary Kom, you do share her frustration and passion throughout the film. The lack of a typical all-star cast means that Chopra does stand out in scenes and in fact the casting of the other characters including Darshan Kumar (who plays Kom’s husband), are more suited to the Manipur surroundings.
This film is not a sports film and where Hollywood�۪s ��Million Dollar Baby�۪ (2004) brought sports and boxing to the podium and stressed a woman�۪s struggle in a sporting world, ��Mary Kom�۪ is more about a woman�۪s struggle in society. Kom is shown as desperate to prove herself in the beginning of this film but ends up as a real life woman facing the choice between her family and her career. There isn’t anything wrong with that, but it would have been different to see Bollywood tackle a sports film and make it real and hard hitting. The songs in film, though fitting to the storyline, just seem out of place and could have been left out altogether to give this film more stature and realism. It would have been refreshing to see Bollywood make this a real biopic because Priyanka Chopra�۪s sublime acting abilities alone have the power to do this.
So is this film worth a watch? Yes it is, just don�۪t go expecting a sports biopic, it is more so a family drama. Watch it for Chopra�۪s passionate acting skills and devotion to her personal art; acting.
BizAsia Showbiz rating: 3/5
