Olympic boxer’s home state doesn’t show Hindi films anymore.
By The American Bazaar Staff
BANGALORE: The producers and distributors of the upcoming biopic Mary Kom are doing their best to try and get the film released in its namesake’s home state of Manipur, located in India’s far eastern reaches.
Viacom18 Motion Pictures, which is backing the film, told reporters that they are negotiating with the Manipur government to allow Mary Kom to be screened within the state. That state’s diverse culture has led to a lack of interest in Bollywood films over the last few years, and as a result, Hindi pictures have been unreleased there for some time.
The Indo Asian News Service reports that Viacome18 Motion Pictures COO Ajit Andhare said that because the film is about Manipur’s homegrown hero, and takes place throughout the state, the company will “try [its] best to ensure the release of the film in the territory.â€
The publicity machine is just now getting warmed up to begin promoting the film full-time, with star Priyanka Chopra – herself notorious for her extensive use of social media to publicize her projects – already tweeting out images and videos to tease fans about the movie.
Kom is an Olympic-level boxer who represented India at the 2012 Games, where she won a Bronze Medal in the Flyweight division. Chopra reportedly has trained extensively to get into fighting shape, and is likely to pick up several award nominations for her work.
Mary Kom is set to release in theaters on September 5. It is directed by Omung Kumar and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The film’s first teaser trailer – which was released on Friday, Chopra’s birthday – can be viewed below: