Priyanka Chopra lauds queen of the ring

Actor dubs Mary Kom’s gold medal win at the Asian Games as a testament to woman power

MUMBAI: Actor Priyanka Chopra and Omung Kumar, the director of Mary Kom, have lauded their film’s inspiration, Indian boxer MC Mary Kom, for winning India’s first women’s boxing gold at the 17th Asian Games.

Chopra, the reel life ‘Magnificent Mary’, was ecstatic about Mary Kom’s win against Kazakhstan’s Zhaina Shekerbekova and took to twitter to congratulate the star boxer immediately after her victory. “Yay! Now that’s called woman power! #MaryKom gets gold... makes India proud and shows us that we can achieve anything! #Momof3 #champion. So proud of you @mangtec, you are a true champ! My hero! Be #Unbeatable Be #Unbreakable Be #MaryKom,” Priyanka posted.



The actor worked out really hard to fit the role of the well-known boxer and even undertook strenuous training in boxing techniques. However, she keeps her own struggle to become Mary Kom aside and finds the real story of Koma far more inspiring.

“What a role model! Mary Kom has proved yet again that she is unstoppable. This amazing mother of three has made India proud today just as she has done throughout her career and has shown the world what a true champion is made of,” Chopra said in a statement.

Kumar, who made his directorial debut with the Bollywood project, said he is proud of what Mary Kom has achieved. “She has done the whole country proud. The whole team of Mary Kom film was praying for this win, and Mary has proved that if you have ‘zidd’ in your heart, you can achieve anything,” he added.

The actor and the boxer struck up a friendship during the making of the film, which turned out to be a hit. “Having literally been in her shoes, I truly understand the hard work and sacrifices she has had to endure. She truly is a ziddi dil,” said Chopra.

The actor has been a true fan and supporter of the boxer, and just a day before the winning stint, she had tweeted her support for Mary Kom, “Irrespective of the outcome of her final bout at the #AsianGames2014… India is proud of your achievement @MangteC #MaryKom. True champion”. The 31-year-old Mary Kom is a police officer from Manipur and fought all odds to pursue her passion for boxing. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2014.

Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.