We all know about Black Widow or Scarlet Witch, but do you know who is India’s first female superhero? Well, it’s none other than Mary Kom!
India’s boxer woman Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom was seen in an animated avatar as the country’s first female superheroine in an animated TV series.
The Indian TV series, titled Mary Kom Jr revolved around the fictional school life of an 8 to 10-year-old Mary Kom in the light of her native Manipuri culture. Other characters of the series had been kept neutral to appeal to a larger audience across the globe.
The 32-year-old boxer, who had signed up a licensing deal with production company ScreenYug Creations Pvt Ltd for the series, feels it would be an interesting way to motivate the girl child.
“I think it is time to take more responsibility for the girl child. I want girls to be confident, strong,” she said.
The animation series will bring in a flavour of self-defense, which is very relevant in today’s times. “Parents are usually not keen on fighting games for their girl child but with all the crime going around, their eyes are now open and this will help,” Mary Kom said.
ScreenYug and Aditya Horizons had co-produced the TV series. Kulkarni had created many big-ticket projects such as “Little Krishna”, “Shaktimaan”, “Krishna Aur Kans” and “Big Bees” among others.
What was the licensing deal?
Mary Kom had sealed a licensing deal with ScreenYug Creations owned by Ashish S Kulkarni. He was also the former CEO of Reliance Animation.
The deal entitled royalty to Mary Kom on global sales of Mary Kom Jr and any merchandise, games, comics, online distribution, storybooks, and e-books that will have associations with it in future.
From ‘Boxing Ring’ to Box-Office Hit!
In 2012, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali signed Mary Kom for a biopic on her life in which Bollywood beauty Priyanka Chopra played her character. The movie was released in the second half of 2014 and was well appreciated.
The film was a commercial success, grossing Rs 1.04 billion at the box office. Mary Kom is also ranked among the highest-grossing Indian films starring a female actor.
The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Film and Best Actress for Chopra. Additionally, Chopra won the Screen Award and the Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
How she managed to rule the ‘golden’ pages of the book:
‘Unbreakable: An Autobiography’, co-authored by Dina Serto was published earlier in 2013.
As a tribal woman from a minority community competing in a quintessentially male-dominated sport, Mary Kom ticks several boxes as an underdog.
“The reason I decided to pen my story down was to ensure others could read it and feel that if I could achieve what I have, so can they,” she explained at the book release.
The journey….
Five-time World Amateur Boxing Champion Mary Kom lead the Indian Women’s boxing contingent at the Commonwealth Games, 2018.
Hailing from Manipur, Mary Kom is the first female Indian boxer to bag a gold medal in 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. She achieved this feat by defeating Kazakhstan’s Zhaina Shekerbekova in the 51-kg flyweight category.
She also won the Gold in 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou. In the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship, she has won Gold in 2017, 2012, 2010, 2005, 2004 respectively.
‘Magnificent Mary’ won the Arjuna Award in 2003, Padma Shri in 2006 and Padma Bhushan in 2013, and is also the first amateur athlete to win the Padma Bhushan.
A doting mother and a loving wife, more power to this incredible lady, who is making our country proud!
