The spotlight has once again fallen on actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ culturally inauthentic casting in the sports biopic ‘Mary Kom.’ Filmmaker Omung Kumar defended the decision by citing historical examples and claiming that he has “promoted Manipur the way no one else has.”
The movie features the Jamshedpur-born Priyanka playing the Manipuri boxer, while her husband is played by Haryana-born Darshan Kumaar. Speaking in an interview, Omung said, “An actor can mould themselves into any character and that’s what Priyanka Chopra did beautifully. That’s why the film was so effective. I have promoted Manipur the way no one else has, and I am proud of it. I gave a lot of Manipuri actors inroads to Bollywood through the film.”
He added, “The film’s reach also has to be considered while casting. We did look at a lot of Northeastern actors for the parts played by Priyanka and Darshan Kumaar too but no one suited the role. People think Darshan, who hails from Haryana, was from Manipur. So, if they suit the part, an actor can play any role. Amitabh Bachchan played Anthony Gonsalves without being Christian. If there is a South Indian character in the film, there’s no hard and fast rule that states we have to cast a South Indian actor only in the role.”
The biopic came into the limelight after the recent Olympics triumph of Mirabai Chanu and comments made by ‘Mary Kom’ actor Lin Laishram. Speaking to a journal, she said, “I admire Priyanka for her hard work, she really put in a lot of hours in order to look like Mary Kom but I always felt that casting is an important step in film.”
“I believe in authenticity and inclusivity, so a girl from Manipur or the North East could have been surely cast to represent us… When it comes to playing an achiever from the Northeast a non-North Eastern person is chosen as seen in Mary Kom. On the other hand, why not cast people from Northeast also as normal Indians in all walks of life which we are.”
