happiness and food

I have mentioned a lot about a pact with VT where we decided that we will watch movies together in theatre. I know it’s silly but isn’t love like that? It has been close to 8 years of keeping up with this pact and this year, Mary Kom was an exception. The only reason to pick this movie was the feeling that Mary Kom is India’s pride and I should go watch the movie for her. VT was busy so along with GK(a dear friend), I was out on my movie date last weekend.

What this post is not about? I am no film critic or even a movie buff. So, you can safely consider the fact that this post is not about PC’s acting skills, direction, editing of the movie or anything related to movie-making skills. This post is also not to challenge Mary Kom’s dedication and her struggle to reach where she is today.

My Expectations: I expected this movie to be a strong biographical narration of Mary Kom’s life, her struggles, those few yet relevant personal stories that have stayed with her, and her journey of how she reached the heights of where she is today. I wanted to take back home MC’s life-story.

What do I want to say then? This post is about story telling skills and while watching Mary Kom I was able to assess this one skill. Before getting any further, there is this one learning that’s important for me to cite and I think that is all what I could draw – behind every successful married woman, there is a supportive husband.

Onlur, who falls in love with MC makes a pitch about getting hitched. He helps her understand that because he realizes her passion for boxing and knows where her heart lies, he will never doubt her priorities and let her follow her dreams. Isn’t this something every girl expects from her boy-friend? Even after MC and Onlur get married, he takes the responsibility of the household, works around his schedule, manages babies at home so that MC could pursue her career in boxing. Onlur is a perfect husband and throughout the movie, I loved his love towards MC and commitment towards their relationship. Without his support, MC’s journey and may be the destination would not have been the same.

However, I was disappointed. I wanted to know so much more about MC. I wanted to know about the times she failed and yet never lost her grit to make a comeback. I wanted to know what kept her going. I was keen to know about the ups and downs of her life. It’s not just about the gold medals and the accolades. I wanted to know about how she trained extensively and how later she decided to write her autobiography. I wanted to know about her academy where she trains girls on self-defense. I really wanted to know her.

So personally, I was not really happy with the way the movie progressed and what all was covered. Bollywood is a strong change agent and I feel good about the thing that the industry is attempting to make movies on sports and in a way encouraging the young generation to take up sports seriously. However, I am not going to recommend this movie as a must watch. PC worked hard and portrayed MC’s character decently. However not her strongest performance so far – she was way better in Barfi and Fashion. For me the question is MC, PC or should I see? Or even if I should have stepped out of the pact for this one?

I take pride in being born in the same country as Mary Kom. 

Linking this post to the Write Tribe Pro Bloggers Challenge – September (Post #4). A pledge to write everyday.