Mary Kom

I have read a lot of criticism of this film lately. Many critics commented that the film lacked a proper melodrama and screenplay could have been bettered. Well, I also felt the film lacked certain punches in the screenplay; but overall, the film is a very sincere effort to present the life story of a sports person. I simply found three very strong reasons to admire this film.

The first reason is the story. Very few Hindi films have done justice with the real life characters. And this one fully handles the story of a north Indian girl who defies her father by choosing boxing. Bollywood recently lacked good stories in its films and "Mary Kom" just sincerely fills the void. The second reason is its clarity in presentation. The film nowhere compromises for the formulaic sequences and remains truthful to its backdrop. Very few directors dare to make a complete sports movie which this does. And the last and the most strong reason is the performances. Though Priyanka doesn't look like a North Indian girl she steals the show by appearing ferocious boxer and a loving mother. Perhaps this is her second best film I've watched after "Fashion." Similarly, Sunil Thapa and Darshaan Kumar in very unpolished roles also do deliver good performances.

Well, don't go with a great hype for this film. It's simply a good and a naturalistic film in a dearth of good movies. Trust me, you won't leave your seats with a scorn.

Rating: 3 stars out of 4

Many times when you watch a movie especially a biopic which has an inspiring story you may overlook the flaws and technicalities, such was my experience with "Mary Kom".

Debutant Director Omung Kumar brings life the story of Boxing Champion "Mary Kom". The story & screenplay of Saiwyn Qadras charts the journey of a daughter of a simple farmer Mangte Chungneijang from Manipur to becoming the 5 times World Champion MC Mary Kom or Magnificent Mary as she is called.

Saiwyn's screenplay is shaky in the beginning but concludes on a high note. The first half looks more like a collage of incidents in Mary Kom's life put on celluloid with no cohesiveness in the narration and everything is shown in a hurry which does not have any emotional connect, but in the second half the movie takes a 360 degree turn in the narration and shows us Mary Kom's comeback after becoming a mother. The second half the narration shows a lot of depth and emotions which are depicted well concluding the movie to a high octane dramatic end. Though a lot of people will find the climax a bit dramatic but the bottom-line is at the end it strikes the right cord and you come out being proud of Mary Kom and her achievements. The other flaw in the script is that it does not delve deep in the other character's storyline.

The dialogues by Ramendra Vashishtha and Karan Singh Rathore is good but quite inconsistent in the getting the language and the dialect right. Though the dialogues has a few Manipuri words being used but sometimes the dialect and language of the principal cast look a bit out of place especially Mary Kom's character.

Omung Kumar's direction is sincere and honest and it comes through in the narration especially in the second half. The one flaw in Omung's direction is his hurried narration; he should have paid more heed to the characterization of other principal characters other than Mary Kom's. Though being Omung's first film as a director and choosing a biopic as a subject really needs a lot of conviction, and he shows the spark as a director.

Performance wise it is definitely Priyanka Chopra all the way. She is sincere in her portrayal as a boxer Mary Kom, her whole transformation from a glam doll to a boxer physically right from the body language to the way she talks is to be seen to believe. Frankly I had my reservations about Priyanka portraying the role but she has really surprised me with her portrayal. Another stand out performance is of Darshan Kumaar who plays Onler Kom, Mary's husband the real pillar of strength in the boxer's life. Darshan 's underplaying the portrayal gives the needed depth required, an actor to watch out for. Sunil Thapa as Mary's coach does a good job.

I have to mention the makeup artist Subhash Shinde who really did a marvelous job of Priyanka's transformation to Mary Kom, minute details like skin pigmentation etc has been taken care of. The production design by Omung's wife Vanita Omung Kumar is realistic and convincing. Stunts by Parvez Shaikh and boxing choreography by Robert Miller bring the required authenticity and thrills in the boxing sequences.

Although it is not a "Million Dollar Baby", but it is definitely an applauding attempt which is worth a watch.....

What's Good: Priyanka Chopra's career best performance. What's Bad: Dramatic climax.

Bollywood always follow a trend of success.Since past few years the most successful genre is Bio-pics like Chak De India, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and now Mary Kom.This year only countable good movies have entertained us and most of them are women-oriented like Queen, Mardaani, Mary Kom.It seems like these women-oriented flicks are coming out at right time, as i have witnessed during the screening after the last punch the ladies gave standing ovation to Mary Kom.Mary Kom is about how a poor girl from Manipur made her way to top against all odds.Her struggle, her passion, her madness, her love towards Boxing made her 5 times world champion.Mary Kom might not be the best movie as it contains many flaws but still it stands strong just because of Priyanka Chopra's superb performance.She has held entire movie on her shoulder, she has given more than 100% for this bio-pic.

Performances wise its only and only Priyanka Chopra. She is totally into the character and this is by far her career best performance.Supporting cast like Darshan Kumar, Sunil Thapa,etc are nice. Omang Kumar's direction is decent but it could have been better looking to the hold of the script. Music goes with the flow, cinematography is top-notch.

Overall its a feel pride movie. Can surely recommend one-time watch.

I am a hard core movie fan and I was impressed after watching the trailer of 'MARY KOM' and decided that I have to watch this movie. I have always been a big fan of sports movies be it Chak De India, Iqbal or Lagaan. The movie is a 'Biopic' of Indian Boxer 'Mary Kom' who hails from Manipur. How she becomes Boxer, relationship with her father, struggles in career, discovering her husband and other hurdles faced on road to being a champion.

What works in the movie?

Acting: A brilliant portrayal by Priyanka chopra s Mary Kom, she has worked really hard for the film and you can clearly see that effort visible on the screen both physically (Training) and mentally (Acting).

Cinematography: I must really applaud the way the cinematographer has pictured the boxing ring, locations, moods, emotions, lighting. Really good job.

Music & BGM: The nom is, sports movies shouldn't have songs but major movie going population in India is accustomed to songs and the Director has managed to place the songs subtly in the movie intelligently.

What doesn't work?

Editing: Editing is very important aspect of the movie, it majorly determines the big factor 'length' The movie is about 2 hour 5 minutes and for a Biopic I thought this wasn't enough, it needed to be a bit long.

Fight sequences: I was disappointed with the fight sequences in the movie. The boxing match that takes place in the ring should have been better choreographed, c'mon? You are showing a world champion boxer you got to get it as close to reality as possible. No comparisons but see the movie 'Million Dollar baby'.

Direction and Screenplay: I think the director should have worked better on the screenplay which keeps the audiences hooked to the screen; there were moments where I was not interested on what's going in the screen. It's a challenging job for the director to capture a biopic as you cannot make major alterations to the story and you have to keep it as close to the reality.

After watching this movie my respect towards Priyanka as an Actor has increased to the next level and I knew Mary Kom is a boxer in India but after this movie she holds highest respect as a sports person in my world. I give this movie a 7/10 and I would recommend a onetime watch.

Oh and more point: You should stand up at the end of the movie if you are an 'Indian'

This movie is a huge disappointment. Billed up to be one of the most heart wrenching tales of winning against all odds, the result was a very highly dramatized offering. A good parameter to judge biopics is how much the viewer feels inspired after watching it and this film fails miserably on that account. Right from the start, the supposed hardships of Mary Kom do not ring true at all, thereby making it extremely hard to root for the protagonist.Though in the second half, this is somewhat salvaged by portraying the problems of a mother of two making a comeback to the coaching arena. Add to that the dramatization of many elements, making the whole movie feel very unnatural. The boxing scenes themselves are very bland and we rarely feel the tension that usually accompanies matches in good sport-movies.

Expectedly, Priyanka Chopra carries the movie and gives a good sincere performance. If only the role had been a bit more of substance, she could have taken it to greater heights. All the supporting characters, particularly the husband, though relatively unknown play their parts well.

First time director Omung Kumar should have worked a lot in making a tighter script. The dialogues are also very uninspiring. The effort of making a biopic on a woman sports person is appreciable but the result is not.

P.S: The product placements of various brands in the movie is really annoying.