Mary Kom, the film
Mary Kom, the film
See also the independent page Mary Kom
India’s national heroine Mary Kom became the first sportsperson in Indian history to have a biopic made on her during her active career, the second living sportsperson (after Milkha Singh) to have such a film in her lifetime and the third sportsperson ever (Paan Singh Tomar being the third: and his was no hagiography, unlike Milkha’s and Mary’s).
Mary Kom, the film is, like Bhaag Milkha, Bhaag (2013) an A-list film, with one of India’s highest paid actresses, Priyanka Chopra, playing the legend in her own lifetime. It opened on 3000 screens, which put it on a par with some mega-budget Indian films. The film received mixed reviews (The Times of India: 3 ½ stars, i.e. very good; India Today: average) but decent box office collections, proving that Mary was the idol of the whole nation.
Koimoi called the film ‘one of the most anticipated films of the year.’ It earned Rs7.5 crore on its first day. This was more than 2014’s superhit--sleeper hit, actually--Queen netted on its first day.
How a Punjabi got north-eastern looks
Adarsh (Scoop Whoop) and Bollywood Life tell (and show) us (see pictures) how the Punjabi Priyanka Chopra was transformed into i) an athlete, and ii) a mongoloid north-easterner:
They write: “The film makers got Hollywood make-up artist Mark Garbarino to give Priyanka an "oriental look." He did a prosthetic makeover by giving her heavier eyelids. But the film makers were worried that the prosthetics would not hold while shooting action heavy boxing bouts.
“Instead, they opted for a special effects solution from Shah Rukh Khan's visual effects studio, Red Chillies VFX.”
Why was the mayang Chopra chosen over Manipuri/ NE actresses?
Many ‘mayang’ (non-Manipuri) Indian journalists who love North East India protested that the role of Mary Kom should have gone to a north eastern actress, not Priyanka Chopra.
NE-loving mayang journalists called the decision to cast Priyanka Chopra ‘cultural chauvinism.’ They interviewed Lin Laishram, Bala Hijam et al, who seemed to agree.
Laishram went to the extent of saying, “Ideally, a Manipuri actor or someone from the Northeast should have been cast. But this is neither the fault of the production house nor the director. It is India. It is simply not prepared to accept someone like us on the big screen – so very racially different from them.’’. [Indian Express
Writing in Quartz, [1] Aseem Chhabra suggested that the following could have played Mary instead:
i) Geetanjali Thapa? the Sikkim-born rising international actress from India. (Indpaedia believes that at the rate at which Geetanjali is going, by 2016 or 17 she will be as well-known as Chopra, and is far more stunning. But in 2013, when Mary Kom, the film went into production this delicate-looking beauty was absolutely unknown. Even in 2014, after her national award and international success, she was known only to niche audiences.)
ii) Bala Hijam: Indpaedia hails her as India’s only pan-Indian actresses (Manipuri/ Malayalam/ Hindi-Urdu). She is the individual whose profile is visited most on Indpaedia. Indpaedia’s editors personally update the pages of only Bala Hijam and Salman Khan (who is the no.2 favourite of Indpaedia readers, partly because Indpaedia posted his profile a year after Indpaedia-favourite Bala’s). However, petite Bala does not have Mary Kom’s physique or on-the-ring aggression. Despite her unreleased Zindagi on the rocks and Neelakasham… she remains a niche name for the majority of Indian audineces.
iii) Masochon V Zimik, who was one of the hockey players in the Yash Raj mega-hit Chak De India. (She has the physique but is hardly a box-office draw even in her own region.)
iv) Karen Shenaz David? The Canadian stage actress (who acted in the Broadway musical Bombay Dreams) was born in Shillong. An extremely good looking, delicate-featured actress, but again unknown to the audiences from whom Mary Kom, the film will recover its costs.
[Indian Express suggested:
i) Lin Laishram Despite Bala Hijam being the queen of Indpaedia, Indpaedia feels that the tall Lin (who is Indpaedia’s no.2 from the North East), with her athletic background, would have been the best choice if only a Manipuri/ North Eastern had to be chosen. She is reasonably well known nationally as a model. However, Lin should realise that even with Chopra Mary Kom, the film is a ‘multiplex’ film (i.e. meant for well-heeled, well-educated audiences). A film with Lin as Mary Kom would have been an arthouse film for even more limited ‘intellectual’ audiences. Indpaedia does not carry a torch for Chopra—we started our page on her more than a year after our page on Bala and Tonthoi, and months after our pages on Lin, Kethose, Sushmita, Esther et al. however, Indpaedia would recommend a Filmistan superstar, regardless of race (e.g. the British-born Katrina Kaif) over even Lin, because the yardstick is commercial viability. If Mary Kom, the film had opted for a mayang (non-Manipuri) actress who was lesser known than Lin or Bala, Indpaedia would have protested, because then the criterion would obviously have been race.
ii) Bala Hijam
iii) Geetanjali Thapa
No Indian media-outlet has proved its commitment to and love for the north-east in general and Manipur in particular as Indpaedia has. Though archived by mayangs from New Delhi, Indpaedia consciously made its debut in 2013 mainly with articles about the north-east in general and Manipur in particular.
Bala Hijam is the reigning queen of Indpaedia, followed (in Sept 2014, when the film was released), in order, by Lin Laishram, Sushmita Devi Mangsatabam, Esther Jamir, Kethose Nagi, Mary Kom herself, Akuonuo Khezhie, Tonthoi Leisangthem, Ketho Leno Kense; Delphine Marbaniang and so many more, not to mention general articles about the north east. Indpaedia is consciously promoting Manipur/ the North East, as its archivist does through his day job. These articles are written by Indpaedia’s mayang/ wai/ dakaar archivist sitting in Delhi.
However, India went through a similar debate around 1980 when the Government of India decided to finance Sir Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982). There were petty objections from India's Filmistan. They wanted an Indian director to direct the film, an Indian to play the Mahatma and so on.
The questions then were and still are: If the Moguls of India’s Filmistan had crores to make inane potboilers, who stopped them from making a film on Gandhi? Had any Indian applied to the Government of India for finances to make a film on Gandhi? Is it more important to project Gandhi ji or to satisfy one Indian director and one Indian actor? Would a film about Gandhi attract more international audiences and Oscars and other international laurels if made by Attenborough (whom the world knew) or by Shyam Benegal (whom mass audiences did not)? Would Attenborough bring more international goodwill for India through Gandhi, the film, or, say, Shyam Benegal?
The same is true of Mary Kom, the film.
Manipuri producers make potboilers. Who stopped them from making at least a low-budget video film on Mary Kom? Had any Manipuri/ North Easterner applied to Doordarshan/ NFDC for finances to make a film on Mary? (In any case, Mary Kom, the film, was financed privately. Therefore, who are we to dictate terms to the producer and go against his commercial judgement?) Is it more important to project Mary or to satisfy one Manipuri/ North Eastern director and one Manipuri/ North Eastern actress? Would a film about Mary Kom attract more national and international audiences and laurels if played by Priyanka (whom most of India knows) or by Lin Laishram (whom mass audiences do not)? Would Chopra bring more national and international goodwill for Manipur through Mary Kom, the film, or, say, Bala/ Lin/ Geetanjali?
Mary Kom, the film will not be exhibited in Manipur, the state’s xenophobic militants have declared. Since the film is for the rest of India, and specifically barred from Manipur, what is the point in casting a Manipuri actress?
Above all, why not ask Mary Kom herself whom she would rather have play her: Chopra or a Manipuri/ North Eastern actress?
Indpaedia genuinely loves the people of Manipur and North East—the people as a whole, who are bigger than individuals. If an important road or prestigious school or stadium or any important project is to be built in Manipur/ the North East it is important to get the best contractor available at that price—and not bother about whether he is Manipuri/ North Eastern or even Indian. The people of Manipur/ the North East who will use that road/ building are more important than the profits of one Manipuri/ North Eastern contractor. And we say the same for every state of India, indeed of national projects as well.
(What was so delightful about this whole controversy was that so many mayang journalists and publications had stuck their necks out for Manipur and the North East. While Indpaedia differs from them on the Gandhi and local contractor principles. it prays that may the tribe of such NE-loving journalists and mayangs in general increase.)
