Mary Kom is a biopic of the real life events, childhood- ordeal, boxing and eventually, the success story of a highly celebrated sportsperson of India. Mangte Chungneijang Kom is born and raised in Manipur where she chances upon a boxing glove. With repeated warnings from her father, once a wrestler but now a farmer, she insists on pursuing boxing as her favourite sport and takes it seriously in her life. Her personal life with Onler, a soccer star from Manipur and her comeback to boxing after her hiatus in personal life make the plot of the movie. Does it captivate the viewers?
Language:
Hindi
Running Time:
124 min
Rating:
U
Release date:
5 September 2014
Directed by:
Omung Kumar
Produced by:
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Written by:
Karan Singh Rathore
Ramendra Vasishth
Saiwyn Qadras
Starring:
Priyanka Chopra
Sunil Thapa
Bijou Thaangjam
Danny Denzongpa
Darshan Kumaar
Linn Laisshram
Music by:
Shashi Suman
Shivamm Suman
Rohit Kulkarni
Shot by:
Keiko Nakahara
Editing by:
Namrata Rao
Rajesh Pandey
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Distributed by:
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures

What’s Hot

  • The story, an inspirational one, of a sportswoman who had to beat all odds of a corrupt federation and shine in a patriarchal system will take the first cut of the cake.
  • Mary Kom is one who is admired world over, for winning the world championship 5 times. This biopic of her has moments that help instill a sense of pride and nationalism within the audience.
  • Priyanka Chopra has exceeded expectations by playing the protagonist. Her attention to detail, religious acting has given the character of Mary Kom the food it needs. Apart from her, Sunil Thapa and Darshan Kumar have given noteworthy performances.
  • The songs composed by Arijit Singh, Vishal Dadlani and Shashi Suman are good to hear and they have aided the storytelling.

What’s Not

  • For a story based on Mary Kom, the expectation is that we get a movie of the calibre of ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ if we are to take lead from Indian cinema or a Million Dollar Baby as per the context. But in this movie, the viewers might be disappointed to see it is based on Mary’s life as a whole, not that of Mary the boxer. Had Omung Kumar considered Mary’s boxing side of things as core, the film could have been better.
  • The screenplay by Saiwyn Quadras is a big let-down. The choice of telling the fate of Mary’s son intertwined with her final against Sasha is not doing justice to the storytelling.

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Mary Kom is a movie based on the life of Mangte Chungneijang Kom. Her rise to dominate the world boxing championships coming from a remote village in Manipur is enjoyable. But watch it if you want to just know about Mary Kom and not about who Magnificent Mary, the boxer is!