Mary Kom's story needs to be told and who tells it is important too: Why Priyanka Chopra as Mary Kom is perfectly alright

Ever since the first poster of the Bollywood biopic 'Mary Kom', where Priyanka Chopra plays the titular role was out, the all-important debate raging both on and offline is about the interesting casting choice for the lead role. This is a film where the female character will have to wing it alone and Chopra has huge responsibility riding on her (rather muscular) shoulders.

Much has been written and said about the casting of Chopra in the lead role - that it is a gross racial misappropriation, that it perpetuates Bollywood's (and therefore of the people who follow the industry) stereotypes about the North East, that it encourages the invisibility of the NE people in mainstream cinema and smacks of plain commercialization of an incredible success story the fruits of which the original heroes will not taste.

If you consider the fact that filmmakers, while fructifying their creative visions on celluloid are also here to make money, the decision to cast a North Indian Punjabi as a Manipuri sportswoman isn't that big a deal. The majority opinion seems to be that this is apathetic casting. How difficult was it to find an Indian actress of North Eastern origin to represent a woman boxer who has done India proud?

There is some merit to this argument if you watch the trailer. For one, it's next to impossible to deglamorize Priyanka Chopra. With her distinct pout and ample makeup, visually she looks nothing like Mary despite having obviously tried hard to. She rarely even breaks into a messy, grimy sweat while punching opponents, maintaining all along that inexplicable larger-than-life personality that all A-listers have - the one that dwarf the characters they are playing.

Then there is the problem with her shifting accent.

But even then, Chopra is absolutely the right person to play MC Mary Kom.

For one, Chopra has come a long way to establish herself as a bankable star. She was stellar in Barfi - a film where she could have easily turned the character of an autistic woman into a hilarious caricature - but admirably showed restraint and empathy. She has proved that she can deliver any role- vapid and prop-like or meaty - without having to lean heavily on her male co-star.

She has obviously worked really hard to physically build the muscular frame that her character needs. This is a role that could win her awards and Chopra clearly hasn't held herself back. She's talented and has both the magnetic screen presence and confidence to see a role to the finish and that will work in favour of the film. She's done enough films to know that people love a face they can recognise playing a person they could fall in love with.

Why must ethnicity be a compelling factor in deciding how a character should shape up? Ben Kingsley won an Academy Award for playing Mahatma Gandhi in 1982. Johnny Depp played a Native American in the 2013 film 'The Lone Ranger'. Mickey Rooney played Japanese IY Yunioshi in the 1961 cult hit 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.

I agree, the sensible thing would have been to find a Manipuri actress to play the role of their local hero. But the film has to reach as many people as possible to convey its message and Chopra is as good a brand ambassador as any. In films such as these ultimately the character becomes the focal point of a story and takes over the actor who is playing it. It happened in 'Lincoln', in 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' and in 'Monster'.

Is there a need for an actual Alzheimer patient to play the role of a person suffering from Alzheimer's? That's what actors are meant to do - take a role and get into the skin of the character.

That someone decided to make a film on boxing is in itself a work of miracle in a nation where cricket is a way of life. It needs every bit of publicity it can get its hands on. Ask yourself - if this was a documentary on boxing starring an unknown cast - how many people would it have reached? Would you be as interested in it to follow it to its opening day? It needed Chopra's name and face to pull in the crowd. The profit goes to makers? So what? Even if one child comes out of the theatre thinking 'wow. boxing is cool,' the day will be won.