For many weeks the upcoming film 'Mary Kom' has been in news. From positive interest at first -- come on, someone is making a biopic on the life of an Indian woman boxer -- the social media began to talk about the casting of the film.
MC Mary Kom, a five-time boxing champion, belongs to Manipur, the North-Eastern state in India. And the Bollywood biopic stars the glamorous actress Priyanka Chopra in the starring role.
But even though she doesn't look anything like the boxer, Chopra doesn't seem to think that it is a deterrent to the film's success or more importantly, the message the film is trying to convey.
But isn't in crucial, especially when one is starring in an biopic, to look like the character he/she is playing?
"I think the makers of 'Mary Kom' were trying to cast a North-Eastern actress in the starring role, but then the budget of the film became really small. So that's when they decided to cast a commercial actor, who can pull the film, and make the budget bigger," said Chopra in an interview to CNN-IBN entertainment editor Rajeev Masand.
"We tried a bunch of stuff -- VFX, prosthetics, make-up, to make my eyes look a little slanted -- but it looked too gimmicky. That's when we decided to go with just carrying the essence of the film, rather than the outer, cosmetic part," added Chopra.
Quoting MC Mary Kom, Chopra explained that the boxer made a very fair point that should effectively rest the argument. Chopra quoted, "Mary said, 'As long as I was from Manipur, nobody thought I was an Indian. As soon as Priyanka Chopra played me, suddenly everybody is convinced that Manipur is a part of India'."
'Mary Kom' has been directed by first-time filmmaker Omung Kumar, and has been produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Along with Chopra, the film starrs Darshan Kumaar, Shishir Sharma and Zachary Coffin in key roles.
The film is set to hit the theatres on September 5.
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