Priyanka Chopra during an interview opened up about playing the role of boxing champion Mary Kom and said someone from northeast could have suited better for the role.
Priyanka Chopra told Vanity Fair, “When I played Mary Kom, I was very sceptical about 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.”
Further she adds, “She comes from the northeast of India and I am from northern India and we physically didn’t look alike. In hindsight, the part should have probably gone to someone from the northeast.”
Priyanka Chopra on preparation for the role
During the interview she spoke about her preparation for the movie.
She said, “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,” she added.
About the movie
Mary Kom is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language biographical sports film based on the life of the eponymous boxer Mary Kom. The movie was directed by Omung Kumar.
The film stars Priyanka Chopra in the lead role, with Darshan Kumar and Sunil Thapa in supporting roles of her husband and mentor, respectively.
It depicts Kom’s journey of becoming a boxer to her victory at the 2008 World Boxing Championships in Ningbo.
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