Bollywood review: Priyanka Chopra's 'Mary Kom' lacks punch

We come from a country starved of sporting legends, mostly because talent, apart from those that appear on the cricketing field (and occasionally on the tennis court), aren’t nurtured, broadcasted or worshipped. So, when a petite lady from the North Eastern state of Manipur flaunted her prowess in the boxing ring and won India a bronze at the Olympics, the nation finally took notice.

Soon, she made headlines, and was India’s new shining star, slowly nudging out Sachin Tendulkar and Leander Paes out of the spotlight. And, that’s a tall order.

Her journey is inspirational and her struggle extremely soul-stirring, no doubt, that it begged to be captured on Bollywood frames, especially since it’s in sync with the industry’s fad for women power.

So, step in Priyanka Chopra, overtly enthusiastic about outshining her contemporaries, and debutant director Omung Kumar, and voila a movie is made.

It’s probably this hurried association that cost the film its soul.

Writer Saiwyn Quadras’ predictable screenplay at 130 minutes unforgivably dilutes the impact, and drags on without much conviction. He injects excessive Bollywood drama, with an adamant father unwilling to let his daughter into the boxing ring, and a young fan who’s unable to identify her sporting hero.

There’s also thoughtless lip service paid to the politics of sporting associations, and how greedy agents taunt sportswomen to feed their own pockets and ego.

While Omung wins points for lending credibility to the sport, and training his leading lady to pack a punch convincingly, he’s unable to add much depth or insight into the boxer’s life or her insecurities. And, that’s a shame considering Mary Kom’s life could’ve made for such a glorious Bollywood story.

Even the diction of his characters appears heavily affected, immensely distracting the audience. It might’ve been touched upon for authenticity, but for a region that doesn’t speak fluent Hindi, this exercise derides their image considerably. If realism was so vital, then Omung should’ve scripted the screenplay in Manipuri, with Hindi subtitles, or left the Hindi unadulterated.

Titled ‘Mary Kom’, because it’s “her” story or more accurately a story “inspired” from her journey, the filmmakers set out to lend perspective to a life that was celebrated only after her Olympic appearance.

Omung steps back in time, and focuses, instead on her five-time world championship title and, how she returned to the boxing ring after giving birth to her twin boys.

Priyanka evidently has worked hard in the boxing ring, and in the gym, perfectly chiseling out the body of a boxing star. However, she’s unable to shrug off her luminous personality and fit into the simple life of Mary Kom. Apart from the jarring dissimilarity in physical features, Priyanka is unable to sincerely own Mary’s life. Probably, a lesser known actor would have gone a long way in lending credibility to Mary.

That disconnect appears far more jarring when the supporting cast is more genuine, both in appearance and talent. Darshan Kumar as Mary’s supportive husband Onler, and Sunil Thapa as her feisty coach M Narjit Singh are pitch-perfect.

Remember how Shah Rukh Khan and his girls evoked a strong sense of patriotism with ‘Chak De India’, well, that’s unfortunately absent in this sporting movie. For a five-time world boxing champion, Mary Kom surely deserved a far more imposing Bollywood tribute.

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