Priyanka to play Mary Kom

As a part of her training for the biopic on the boxer, she will not only learn the sport but also stay in Manipur with the Olympic medallist's family

Soumyadipta Banerjee (BOMBAY TIMES; November 27, 2012)

Priyanka Chopra, who has been finalised to play Mary Kom on screen for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ambitious project (having defeated Deepika Padukone in the race, thanks to her stature that matches Mary's) will learn boxing from the Olympic medallist for four months early next year. The rigorous boxing training is part of the acting workshop that Priyanka will go through to prepare herself to play the boxer on screen. Both Mary and Priyanka will cut down on their other assignments to spend time with each other. "Priyanka has never thrown a punch at anybody before in real life. But now, Mary will be acting as her boxing coach for four months. The first two months will be spent in learning the ropes of boxing. For the next two months, Priyanka will be learning on how to box like Mary Kom. Four months is very little time but Priyanka is confident that she will be able to fight like a pro in those four months," said a source close to Bhansali.

According to our source, Priyanka will also travel to Manipur to stay with Mary's family. "She needs to understand how Mary has struggled to perfect her sport even though she had to play mother to twins and take care of her husband. There are a lot of things about Mary's family that nobody knows. For instance, Mary's father became aware of his daughter's affinity to boxing only after he read about her achievements in the newspaper. By spending time with the family, Priyanka will get to know about such stories," said the source.

We learnt that the trip to Manipur will happen during the four months. And once it's over, she will start shooting.

Interestingly, this film will also mark the Bollywood debut of Mary as she will be making a guest appearance in the film, most probably as one of Priyanka's opponents in a bout towards the climax.

When Mirror got in touch with MC Mary Kom, she confirmed that she would be working closely with the film's unit.