Mary Kom

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 5th September, 2014
Time : 123 minutes
Director: Omung Kumar; Writer : Saiwyn Quadras; Music : Shashi-Shivamm
Starring : Priyanka Chopra, Darshan Kumaar, Sunil Thapa, Rajni Basumatary, Shishir Sharma, Robin Das, Shakti Sinha



There is a lot to like about Mary Kom, the movie, based, of course, on the real life of our famous Indian boxer from a tiny village in Manipur. Its inspiring, am sure, to all women who watch the film, sends the right message. Priyanka, in the lead role, gets the feistiness spot on, showing the hot-bloodedness in normal life, which is probably what made her such a terror in the ring. The idyllic surrounding, the discouragement from the father, the simple hamlet she hails from, the odds she overcame, the amazingly supportive husband (hard to imagine anyone not from the North East being half as encouraging), the bulldog of a coach who turns the fighter into a boxer, the corrupt, good for nothing Boxing Federation, headed by one of the nastiest individuals you could encounter, the political instability of the region and, most of all, the many triumphs of the lion-hearted boxer. It all comes through.

However, you do wish they’d made some of the things a little less melodramatic, a tad less filmy. And while Priyanka does overall justice to the role, there are some parts where she looks / behaves / has the body language more of a supermodel than a boxer. I also wish there was a bit more about how she actually developed into a world class boxer in the first place - it happens almost too easily here, one moment she joins the coaching clinic, the next she is in the National’s pummelling her opponents. Finally, instead of making the film try and convey almost every facet of her life, I wish, like most other successful biopics, the makers had instead focused more on one or two incidents which truly made Mary Kom one of India’s more revered sportspersons. I could well imagine a film simply on her life post motherhood since that is what made her truly an unprecedented legend…

Some of the supporting cast were exceptional. The husband, Darshan, came across as a really sweet chap (perhaps too sweet?), the coach, Sunil Thapa, as sufficiently bull headed, the Federation official, Shakti Sinha, sufficiently hateful, and the mother, Rajni, sufficiently maternal, all deserving special mention. There was some talk about Danny being chosen for the coach’s role but having a relatively unknown person in the role made it more credible.

I applaud the central message, the thought behind taking one of our female sporting icons, from one of our most neglected states and making a feature film. However, at the end, most sports films suffer from a bit too much melodrama, usually an over-enthusiastic sound track and a bit of a standard plot structure, predictability. This one, is no different !

PS : Couldn't resist putting one of the real hero