Mary Kom

 a point of view

I thought Mary Kom was a ‘nice’ watch. Nice is not the world you want to hear when it comes to a biopic which is suppose to be inspirational and awe inspiring. Sure it had moments that were pure, unadulterated and genius – the kind that make your throat hurt because you are trying to control your tears from flowing away; but in its entirety it was jus that - nice.

First the plot, its about boxing champion Mary Kom’s journey from a village in Manipur to the dizzying heights of sports stardom. How she lost it all to motherhood only to regain it back with vigour and passion that only a rare human being is capable of.

The good - Priyanka Chopra played Mary Kom with utmost sincerity, conviction and grit. She is one the gems in our industry. She truly is. The supporting cast was fantastic, very convincing for the parts that they played. I didn’t really mind the in-your-face integration of the brands either. It was definitely way better than what they did with Krrish 3.  Production design was another strong point of the film. Even though the film was not shot in Manipur, you can never tell that it isn’t. It was very authentic and meticulously crafted. Costume design was also very well done. Very real and it never felt ‘filmy’ or over the top.

The not-so-good - I think what I did mind was the pointless dialogue where Mary accuses the sports committee of not selecting her because she was from Manipur. That dialogue was contrived, unnecessary and unwarranted in the context of that particular scene. I mean the movie is anyway dealing with so may issues (more like skimming through them) like gender bias, government red-tape, economic bias, role of women post marriage & motherhood; that this particular scene could have been avoided. Also Priyanka’s accent was patchy in parts. Lastly, patriotism is never induced; it comes when you get naturally inspired. The line ‘please stand up for national anthem’ was in my opinion, induced.

Music was again nice, nothing great to write home about. We aren’t getting anything iconic like ‘chak de india’ or ‘bhaag milkha bhaag’ but it was pleasant to the ear.

And that’s my biggest problem with this movie. It could’ve been iconic but will end up becoming a ‘nice’ watch.

Three worlds of QUEEN

 You must know this - I am a certified QUEEN fan. I mean who isn’t? Only a moron (and am being kind) might think that its not a nice film. Did I hear “groupie” anyone?
 

So am sure that the world and its grandmother has gone around town praising QUEEN and why should one see it and all that’s good in it. I wont bore you with more praise (although I could! Just say Go!) I want to tell you about the experience of watching this film through three different set of people. So here goes..
 

First time I saw the film was the Friday it released. I remember it was Women’s Day. I went with my best friends. After a long time it was just us (minus the husbands) watching this film together so it was kinda special to start with.  The crowd in the theatre on that particular day was rather engaging and enthusiastic. They screamed, hooted and generally hung on to every word that Rani (for the uninitiated, Die!) said or didn’t. Us girls, needless to say, were adding to the ambient sounds. I remember my friend Kavita whispered in my ears when she saw the Italian restaurant owner in the film “he’s cute” and our excitement held no boundaries when Rani, 5 scenes down the line, echoed the same sentiment and even kissed him! How we felt a sense of victory at that particular moment, I have no logic for. After the movie we all felt kind of empowered and happy to have friends around. This film for my girlfriends was about crossing our own limits, making new friends and finding oneself in a way that hasn’t been found before. It was wonderful.
 

Next up was my second outing with mum and mum-in-law. This was the Tuesday of the release week and why should you care? Because the hall was packed! Not a single seat was available. I have never seen a cinema hall this packed on a Tuesday evening, especially for a film without a ‘star’ (read one of the Khans). Anyway the audience enthusiasm was much less this time. We saw the film and left. We’re in the car and my mother goes “the grandmother was so right. What you think is so important to you today, without which your world will shatter, might be so trivial tomorrow and might even be a blessing the day after. Very wise woman, the grandmother”. I smiled. Then the MIL goes “and look at the parents, inspite of being conservative they still allowed Rani to travel to a foreign country alone. How nice”. I smiled again…and then the comment of the day “look at Rani…inspite of being in a foreign country and living with boys, she stayed true to her Indian roots (read no sex) also not all foreigner boys are bad na? not all of them want the ‘same thing’ (read sex). Those boys in the film were so nice”. I smiled some more. To me it meant that through this movie, the older generation was able to shed some of their prejudices and pre conceived notions about people from other cultures. Suddenly these people became more humane and relatable for my mum and MIL, who otherwise would judge them till the world came to an end.
  

Then again, the third time I had to take an Australian friend of mine for a ‘Bollywood movie’ experience. She was in town for a day and it so happened that we went to see QUEEN…tadaa!! Her excitement and my embarrassment knew no bounds. She laughed out loud, almost stood on her seat and danced and did all kinds of touristy things that can possibly be done in a movie theatre. Since I had already seen the film twice, I was happy to translate during the scenes. Cut to, the film is over and I asked her how she liked it. She said she cried 2 times and her answer gave me another revelation. She said she could totally connect to how it feels to go to a country not knowing the language or food or anyone, she felt the same when she came to India for the first time (this was her third time to India). She said she could feel the isolation that Rani felt and she was so happy for her when she meets nice people and finds friends and then she looked at me and said “like I found you.” Hell…I was the foreigner in this case! She also shed a tear when Rani finally decides to move on in life, on her own terms, without the baggage of a husband that the world expects her to have because that is the ‘right thing to do’. She admitted that even in the west, it might not be as pronounced, but the burden of finding someone or marrying someone does exist. She thanked me for choosing this film as she felt a real connect with the story of Rani (who woulda thunk!!!)
 

This is QUEEN, observed from three different perspectives, three different lenses. All relevant. All real. And this is precisely what makes it fabulous!!