Actress Lin Laishram had opened up in an interview with Bollywood Hungama told that it was ‘Heartbreaking’ to see someone not belonging to the North East playing the role of Mary Kom in the biopic of the boxer. Lin Laishram played a supporting role in the biopic. Lin Laishram stated that she would’ve loved to play the title role and if not, she would be equally happy to see a North Eastern to cast as Mary Kom.
In a chat with Bollywood Hungama, she said, “As an actor, that self-centred egoistic actor tells me that I should have been… But it could have been anybody from the North East. We have many great actors. I want to be generous here, and say that there were many, many actors who could have done this. But the casting and the whole team decided on someone else. It’s heartbreaking, but we are coming along, and I hope that this does not happen again.”
“A lot of times, the casting is stereotyped, and we are stuck to a very small genre of our own. That’s also stereotype, and not in the best manner. So when a script like that comes up, from our place, it would be great to be given to somebody who is more eligible and who’s close to that land, because it helps,” she added.
The actress in an interview with The Free Press Journal, said, “I admire Priyanka for her hard work, she really put in a lot of hours in order to look like Mary Kom but I always felt that casting is an important step in film. I believe in authenticity and inclusivity, so a girl from Manipur or the North East could have been surely cast to represent us…”
In the film, Priyanka Chopra had played the role of the boxer ‘Mary Kom’ and had won many awards for the same.
