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I’d love to portray myself in a movie: Mary Kom
As an Olympic medallist, Padma Bhushan awardee mother of three, and a dedicated soul who does her best to promote sports at ever level in the country, boxer Mary Kom has her hands full at all times. But when you ask her about filmmaker Shoojit Sircar’s interest in making a biopic on her life, her face lights up with excitement. “It an exciting idea, and I’d definitely love to portray myself in the movie. It would be interesting to see how I pla my role,” says the five-time world champion. Kom is among the few female Indian sports stars whose journey to win laurels for the country has been captured in a Bollywood film. The Omung Kumar directorial, titled Mary Kom, was released in 2014, and had actor Priyanka Chopra playing the boxer. Referring to the biopic, Kom says, “See, Priyanka did a great job at playing me, and definitely got the actions and acting part right. But obviously she isn’t a boxer. So, the boxing part is not the same as Mary!” But if she takes up acting, would sports be taking a backseat? Kom says, “I would be more than happy to be part of such a project, although the sport of boxing will always be my primary focus.” Speaking about the growing support for sports in the country, the boxer says, “Earlier, one would have faced problems if they wanted to be a sportsperson, but since our sports minister (Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore) is himself an Olympic medallist, there is a lot of support from the government, and better infrastructure and facilities for upcoming sportspersons. They are lucky to have such support. I do whatever I can for boxing, and I want it to become a sport that people learn for self-defence, if not for competitions.”
Kom credits her family for helping her focus on the game. “I am so thankful to God, because he’s given me the energy to handle so many things despite all difficulties. But what I do would not be possible without the support I get from my family. It’s all about supporting each other with them, and I know I can’t do this alone,” she says.