Priyanka Chopra confesses an actor from the northeast should have played ‘Mary Kom’

Priyanka Chopra confesses an actor from the northeast should have played ‘Mary Kom’

In 2014, Priyanka Chopra Jonas portrayed the life of Indian amateur boxer ‘Mary Kom’ in the biopic titled on her name. The Omang Kumar directorial found its audience, but the casting choice of Priyanka as Mary was questioned by many people. There were discussions about how an actor from the Northeast should have played the role of boxer, rather than Priyanka. 

Now, the ‘Dostana’ actress shared her point of view about the fiasco, and while speaking to ‘Vanity Fair,’ Priyanka revealed that she was sceptical about the film. “When I played Mary Kom, I was very sceptical taking it on in the beginning because she was a living, breathing icon and she made a place for so many female athletes. Plus, I look nothing like her. She comes from the northeast of India and I am from northern India and we physically didn’t look alike.” She further added that an artist from the Northeast would have brought more justice to the character. “In hindsight, the part should have probably gone to someone from the northeast. But I was just greedy as an actor to get a chance to tell her story, because she inspired me so much, as a woman, as an Indian woman, as an athlete. When the filmmakers insisted I do it, I was just like, ‘You know what? I’m going to do it.”

For the character, the actress left no stone unturned, and she shared her preparation for the film by saying, “I went and met Mary, I spent time in her home, I met her children, I met her husband. I had to spend almost five months training to learn the sport, which is not easy, by the way… And to physically alter my body as well, to get into an athlete’s shape. So, physically, it was really tough, mentally, it was really tough. Because I physically didn’t look like her, I decided to embody her spirit. So, I spent a lot of time with her so that she could educate me about what her choices were, why she made the choices that she did.”

On the work front, Priyanka Chopra Jonas will soon be in the series ‘Citadel,’ and in Bollywoodm she will soon be seen with Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif in ‘Jee Le Zaraa’

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