Tribal Group Requests Release of Priyanka Chopra's 'Mary Kom' in Manipur

Boxer Mary Kom is most definitely one of the biggest sporting icons of India.

Releasing worldwide on 5 September, her success story is being told on celluloid by Omung Kumar in his debut directorial venture "Mary Kom" starring talented actress Priyanka Chopra.

But, the film was not granted to screen in Manipur as various underground organisations have opined that Hindi films are different from what their culture stands for and so releasing movies in the state would mean harming the state's values.

But things have started to look up, as after 14 years, a tribal group wants the sport star's movie to be screened.

"The Komrem Union, Manipur, would humbly like to make a humble request to the organisation concerned to permit the screening of Mary Kom," Times of India quoted the union's statement.

The union praised Kom's achievements and mentioned the five-time world champion as the 'pride' of the Komrem community.

"I believe the concerned organisation will cooperate in this regard and allow the screening to encourage the budding sportspersons of Manipur. It is a long-cherished dream of the Komrem people to see the movie. Any disturbance will hurt their emotions as the film is very close to their heart," the statement added.

Apart from the controversial release in the North-Eastern state of Manipur, the film's lead actress Chopra has faced heavy criticism for using 'prosthetic' makeup.

But, Chopra cleared her stand saying that they initially used the makeup, but since it ended up looking 'fake', the makers decided to drop the idea of 'prosthetic' lids.

"We tried a bunch of stuff -- VFX, prosthetics, make-up, to make my eyes look a little slanted -- but it looked too gimmicky. That's when we decided to go with just carrying the essence of the film, rather than the outer, cosmetic part," Chopra told IBN Live.