Last week, I watched the new release Mary Kom in Pune. Initially, I went to watch it because I had no option and as it turns out, the film was really good. Let me share something about the film. The film starts with mob attacking a village in Manipur. It reminded me of Dil Se. And then the film rewinds to the childhood of Mary Kom. Her desire for boxing starts as early when she is just 7 – 8 years old. She then matures, gets involved in street fights with boys who make fun of her and then one day, she goes to a boxing coaching class. The song which plays in the background when she first enters the boxing school is so good that it feels one with sequence. Screenplay is excellent and the way she gets into junior championships and amateur championships in neatly shot. After getting out of a couple of world championships, she falls in love. The fiery reaction of the boxing coach on hearing about her marriage is excellently portrayed.
After marriage, she has twins. Her husband supports her to get back into boxing and that’s the second half of the film. This is where we really start liking PC. At the same time, to be clear, in a scene she acts as a fiery boxer and a caring mother sublimely. Then she again wins World Championship titles. Amidst all this, a quarrel arises between her and Indian Boxing Association President – obviously, mistake is not on her side but however she is forced to submit written apology to revoke the ban on her. Her rigorous training for the Fifth World Championship is well shot, of course with certain camera tricks, but still serves the audience with a good visual experience.
The last 15mins of the film is the most gripping. She clashes with German Boxer Sasha (whom she has already defeated in first half of the film in earlier World Championships) and PC has pulled some good stunts. At that point, she is under mental agony that one of her child is in a life-threatening operation at Gurgaon. She manages to win the Championship and by the time, she wins, her child is also saved.
Ultimate highlight of the film is when she lifts the final trophy and then comes our Indian National Anthem. On hearing the music, I stood up in the theatre and to my surprise, everybody (from small children to old citizens) in the theatre stood up for our National Anthem. That was when I felt how hard the film has made impact on the people.
To be precise, Mary Kom is a well portrayed biography of living Indian boxing legend who is a Five Time World Champion – Mc Mary Kom. This film is a tribute to her. Not many such champions are known to everyone and Priyanka Chopra has done her part to make Mary Kom known to all of India.
