All audience reviews of Mary Kom

Biopics are based on the stories of extraordinary skills of individuals and their achievements against all odds. Words like grit, determination, perseverance, sweat , tears, killer instinct, heartbreak invariably describe their rise from relative ignominy to fame and from rags to riches sometimes. But when movies costing millions are made for millions of audiences to see, there are certain commercial box office compromises made or few weaknesses in written work or direction which must be accepted so long as the basics are shown well

As in all biopics the focus is on the trials, tears, and tribulations of the protagonist. In this movie based on the life of boxer Mary Kom, Our desi girl (Priyanka Chopra) punches her way through teenage rebellion, angry young woman, aggressive boxer, worried mother of two kids,frustrated sports person, determined trainee on a come back leading to the ultimate victory in the ring.

The plot is about an ordinary lower middle class girl from the North East chasing her passion for boxing, facing parental opposition, administration apathy, failure, and ethnic bias before finally achieving success. In this hard journey she gets the support of her husband and the encouragement of her coach.

A pretty interesting tale of this girl pursuing her passion for boxing in the face of stiff opposition from father ( Who will marry you when you face is damaged ?), initial reluctance of her coach ( Tell me 5 reasons why you want to become a boxer) and apathy of administration ( We will select whom so ever we like). To the coach she says " I love boxing " 4 times and asks " do you want to know the 5th reason?"

Initially she is on her own even in street fights and in arranged fights with shady characters and later wins medals. She opts for marriage but her passion for boxing does not die. She makes a comeback with the full support of her husband (Darshan Kumar) who promises to look after the kids. Even her coach ( Sunil Thapa ) trains her once again with more intensity.

The director Omung Kumar easily has a difficult job on his hands trying to mould our desi girl to a girl of the North East,and walking a tight rope to balance story substance with the box office. In this he goes over board at times. There is a tendency to over dramatise some scenes, but on the whole it is a praiseworthy effort.

Director Omung Kumar has made a good film, packing it with all popular ingredients of Indian cinema. After all he has not set out to make a documentary but a commercial feature film for the masses.Though there is enough over the top drama, some of it jarring and some probably unwanted, the overall effect is positive.There is an acceptable degree of the North East lingo and the general ethnic atmosphere.

Acting wise it is a Pee Cee film through and through. A truly award winning performance. Matching up is the good acting of Darshan Kumar and Sunil Thapa as the husband and coach respectively. Seeing the coach one is reminded of the trainer in " Karate Kid"

There are a few background songs well placed in the narrative. The photography,editing and other technical aspects are first rate.

So go ahead and see the movie for a story told reasonably well and for superb acting by Pee Cee. With all it's melodrama, over dramatization, certain inconsistencies, some obvious leaning on Box office elements and not a perfect narrative ,it makes for good viewing.

The movie deserves 3 and a half stars but with an additional half star for the superb acting of Pee Cee, I will give it 4 stars.

Tailpiece on the issue of book Vs film

A tendency for reviewers is to often compare the book with the film and expect a page by page conversion. Some critics are disappointed if some particular lines or characters or scenes of the book are missing from the film.This I feel is grossly unfair and flawed because book is print medium for the educated individual while film costing crores is a commercial, universal, audio visual medium for the educated and uneducated alike seeking entertainment. So a film will definitely be different since it is only "based" on the story.

Since both are entirely different mediums, it is not correct to compare and complain. In any case it is not a documentary being made but it is a commercial exercise, so there will be minor deviations. A film made in this part of the sub continent has to cater to the lowest common denominator--the uneducated economically backward class not exactly having a high IQ and looking for entertainment. less

GOOD - The amount of backbreaking work Priyanka Chopra has done is clearly visible and she excels in it leaps and bounds; The issues the film raises through the portrayal of the "magnificent" life of MC Mary Kom (which needs to be told) like "Manipur is very much a part of India but kaun maanta hai?"
BAD - The film gets stretched at points where it tries to be too emotional; The screenplay is dull; even the music and the dialogues are below average.
MARY KOM is a must watch film for every Indian just to know who the real Mary Kom is and what wonders she has done. Omung Kumar gets all the due credit for making his very first film with such intentions. The film follows all the rules of how a biopic should be made but "It's Informative, Not Entertaining" ... !!! less

Biopics are gaining popularity in Indian Cinema as it is representing true incidents of a person portrayed on the silver screen. Mary Kom does pay respect to the great sports person but disappoints as a movie.

Mary Kom tells the real life story of a five-time world champion who is the only Indian to qualify for 2012 Summer Olympics games.

Omung Kumar choose the right subject for his directorial debut but messes the film with loose screenplay and lousy direction. The movie begins with curfew scenes and coming-of-age drama which was forceful and had no right intention in place. Even the fight scenes were tacky. However, the second half picks up and drama sets rolling in with story begin to show light into the life of Mary Kom. If you would have read the autobiography of Mary Kom, the legendary boxer struggled to reach to the top but nothing much was shown in the film. Art direction is fine. Cinematography is outstanding. Dialogues are punching. Songs are disappointing. Priyanka Chopra gets into the character of Mary Kom. The supremely talented actress delivers a solid performance. She is mind blowing with her punches and fiery dialogues. Darshan Kumaar will surprise you in the supporting role.

Overall , Mary Kom pays tribute to real-life hero but disappoints as a film. Decent 2.75/5 less

The daughter of a rice farmer from Manipur Mangte Chungneijang or as she has come to be known M C Mary Kom, defies odds and local traditions to enter the male dominated world of boxing and becomes the World Champion. At the peak of her career she gives up everything and enters the world of marital bliss. This break and her struggles to come back and the eventual triumph forms the narrative of Mary Kom which

Mary Kom is a loosely fictionalised account of India's most famous female boxer with Priyanka Chopra in the titualr role. The movie starts during the Manipur riots of 2007 where a pregnant Mary is seen going to the hospital during a curfew and moves into the flashback mode with the details on how she started as a tom boy who had a short temper and loved to get into fights and during one of these fights she runs into the boxing academy of coach Narjit Singh (Sunil Thapa) who takes her under his wing and starts training her.

Thus starts the incredible journey of Mary Kom who breaks the social barriers and eventually wins the approval of her dad (Robin Das) who rejoices in her first World Championship. She wins two more World Championship bouts and accepts the proposal from Onler (Darshan Kumar) which angers her coach who believes that domesticity will rob Mary of her talent and she will move away from her destiny of rewriting the history books.

Priyanka Chopra has put in her heart and soul in bringing Mary Kom alive on the screen even carrying a weak and melodramatic script, while her looks and screen presence may not exactly be what the movie needed, there is no dearth of effort from the desi girl. And it especially shows in the scenes where you see her training trying to make her comeback. Choosing to portray Mary was a brave choice and PC doesn't disappoint you on that front with her performance.

The supporting cast of unknown actors breath life into an otherwise dull script which feels more like a newspaper article talking about Mary's life and achievements. Special mention to Sunil Thapa as the coach Narjit Singh who is absolutely brilliant in his role and his intreactions with Mary (Priyanka Chopra) form some of the high points of the movie. Another person who gets highlighted through this movie is Mary's husband Onler who has been a pillar of support in her comeback and desreves as much as the the titualr character.

One of the important issues that the movie highlights is the official apathy that the sportsperson endure even when they are going all out to perform for the country. Even though the issue receives very little screen time, it manages to leave an impact due to the circumstances in which our sportsperson are expected to perform and still being ridiculed for not bringing any laurels to the country in olympics. The sports ministry should take a keen interest in reviewing the facilities provided to our athletes and make sure that they are accorded atleast the basic facilities of nutrition and training.

Debutant director Omung Kumar makes a sincere attempt, however he is hampered by a weak screenplay and falls prey to the bollywood cliches of biopics which tend to lean a lot toward melodrama.

As for the music Dil Yeh Ziddi hai is the one song which stands out in the entire album and could have been utilized more effectively some key sequences as background music.

Final Words - If you are in the mood for looking at the life story of a remarkable woman who overcame so many obstacles and still managed to bring laurels to the country and if you are willing to overlook the weak screenplay and enjoy rooting for Mary in the climax then please block your tickets and enjoy the movie.

Mr. Critic rating - 3/5 less

Mary Kom is a legend that deserves to be honoured, and this movie tries to do just that. Sadly, what could have been a great movie/documentary has been turned into a typical bollywood cliche-fest. Literally every cliche you can think of has been used in this movie. It's understandable taking creative liberties to embellish a story, but in this case, they've been quite detrimental to the plot.

Mary Kom tells the story of M.C Mary Kom, India's most famous boxer. The movie shows her her continuous struggles to achieve her dream of becoming a boxer and how she managed to navigate through countless hurdles to achieve it. Raised as the eldest of three siblings, she was always rebellious and impulsive. She spoke continuously of becoming a professional boxer, but her father would have none of it. She finally decides to take matters into her own hands and take up training in the town closest to her home. She manages to get into state level competition and the rest is history.

Priyanka Chopra does a pretty decent job as our protagonist, but it's not enough to save the movie from some of its cliched cringeworthy moments. The last scene is especially irksome in this regard. These scenes are made more disappointing by the fact that are some genuinely good moments in the film as well. These cliched, overly dramatic scenes aside, Mary Kom is still worth watching at least once, if only to know a bit more about a star from a sport that isn't Cricket. less