Priyanka Chopra to learn boxing from Mary Kom

Priyanka Chopra who will play MC Mary Kom in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ambitious project will learn boxing from the London Olympics bronze medallist, says a report in The Times of India.

“The rigorous boxing training is part of the acting workshop that Priyanka will go through to prepare herself to play the boxer on screen. Both Mary and Priyanka will cut down on their other assignments to spend time with each other,” says the report.

The report quoted a source close to Bhansali saying, “Priyanka has never thrown a punch at anybody before in real life. But now, Mary will be acting as her boxing coach for four months. The first two months will be spent in learning the ropes of boxing. For the next two months, Priyanka will be learning on how to box like Mary Kom. Four months is very little time but Priyanka is confident that she will be able to fight like a pro in those four months.”

Priyanka will also stay with Mary’s family in Manipur, the source said, “She needs to understand how Mary has struggled to perfect her sport even though she had to play mother to twins and take care of her husband. There are a lot of things about Mary's family that nobody knows. For instance, Mary's father became aware of his daughter's affinity to boxing only after he read about her achievements in the newspaper. By spending time with the family, Priyanka will get to know about such stories.”

Mary who is set to make a guest appearance in the movie said that  she would be working closely with the film's unit.