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Release date:
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September 5, 2014
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Director:
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Omung Kumar
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Cast:
Language:
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Priyanka Chopra,
Darshan Kumaar, Sunil Thapa
Hindi
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I have to confess to a certain degree of
incredulousness while watching Mary Kom.
Really? A husband so supportive that he takes care of the babies, motivates his
wife and voluntarily puts his own career on the backburner to support hers? Do
they make ’em like that?
Now having read reams on the five-time world
boxing champion and Olympic medallist M.C. Mary Kom – on whose life this film
is based – I’ve discovered that debutant director Omung Kumar and screenplay writer
Saiwyn Quadras have been pretty
faithful to her true story. In an interview to Good Housekeeping magazine in 2012, Mary had said: “He knows my
dreams and is always encouraging me to go out and achieve them.” Onler, who
reportedly left a full-time job in Customs and Central Excise to support her, added,
“When we decided to get married, it wasn’t just to be man and wife. The promise
was to be on her side always.”
This then is what this film is for me: the story
of a gutsy woman who never gives up a fight, a feisty woman who is unapologetic
about her ambitions, and her great partnership with an unconventional man unfazed
by the standard gossip directed at husbands of successful women.
Mary Kom is an unusual
sports biopic because it is, for the most part, shorn of contrived melodrama. Since
the real Mary is an active boxer who is very much in the news, many viewers
already know the outcome of most of the matches being portrayed on screen. The
focus then is not on boxing but on the woman who enters that ring.
Contrary to what you might be expecting, this film
is not designed as a grand epic set against the backdrop of insurgency in
Manipur. Nor is this a masala film
made along the lines of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. It is, instead, a saga of the daily struggles that a woman professional
in particular must deal with. It is about gender prejudice, politics in India’s
sporting establishment, a couple who are best buddies and the everyday tensions
faced by parents. It is about a woman torn between the emotional and practical pulls
of motherhood and her passion for her sport. It is about rising from humble circumstances
yet it does not exaggerate Mary’s poverty, although extreme scenarios are often
deemed more commercially viable than regular stories.
The effort to tell Mary’s story at a very personal
level is commendable, but leads to a major flaw in the screenplay: it tells us nothing
of the challenges faced by ordinary persons in the politically turbulent – and
ignored – North-east, except for a wish for peace made in passing by Mary’s dad.
Elsewhere, Mary’s sudden outburst that sports officials are discriminating
against her because she is Manipuri is incongruous, because there’s not a
whimper about such bias before that scene or after. Quadras even makes the odd
choice of leaving out of the film a huge tragedy in Mary’s life: the murder of
her father-in-law by unidentified gunmen that almost drove her to give up
boxing, as she told The Hindustan Times in
December 2013.
Some of the film’s dialogues required greater
writing clarity. Mary Kom is also pulled down by the volume at which its passable
songs are played. These loud numbers – particularly the irritating Hai tujhe salaam India – diminish an
otherwise relatively understated narrative.
While the tone of the writing remains consistent
almost throughout, there is an unnecessary effort to whip up emotions and
suspense during an overly-dramatised scene in which Mary fights an
international match just moments after having received bad news involving her
family. Mary in real life did in fact face such a situation, but not in the
same time frame.
The big picture though is that there is more to
praise than slam in this film. Right on top of the heap of positives is Priyanka Chopra’s
performance as Mary Kom. No, she is not Manipuri and does not look it either. This
casting decision is not evidence of racism in Bollywood though (as has been
alleged by some) but a sign of the star-ridden system that enslaves the industry,
where even big film makers struggle to notch up a hit without stars and
therefore avoid taking risks.
This situation needs to change. For the moment
though, it’s a relief that Priyanka doesn’t overdo Mary’s mannerisms and reduce
her to a caricature. PC throws herself into the role with the kind of commitment
we saw from her in Barfi! At no point
does she look like a boxing novice, and her body language – loose-limbed and
excitable – matches her character’s temperament.
Interestingly, the writer does not deify Mary. Her
excitability often translates into irritability and though she’s a good soul, I
occasionally found myself admiring Onler’s patience with her. Playing Onler is film
debutant Darshan Kumaar who is an absolute natural and a delight on camera. Of
the excellent supporting cast, Sunil Thapa as Mary’s coach is particularly nice.
Press reports tell us the film has not been shot
in Manipur. That’s unfortunate. The locations are pretty though, and
cinematographer Keiko Nakahara has fun with them especially during an extended
training sequence in the great outdoors. For the most part though, she keeps
the scale of her camerawork more intimate, to match the mood of the film.
In the overall analysis then, Mary Kom is a neat little biopic. It is inspiring because Mary is a
fighter in every sense of the word, and her marriage is a partnership of
equals. It is unusual because the director and writer do not allow Mary’s
motherhood to dwarf other aspects of her identity, and even when Mary is in
pain over her kids, she is never shown feeling guilty about being a career
woman.
Despite some major grouses with the film, I’ve come away from
the theatre admiring Mary Kom and being a little in love with Onler. Mission accomplished,
Omung Kumar.
Rating
(out of five stars): ***1/2
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CBFC Rating (India):
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U
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Running time:
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124 minutes
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Poster courtesy: Raindrop Media
