When Priyanka faces Mary Kom

Priyanka Chopra has turned many heads with her glamourous on-screen acts, but the actress will undergo a de-glam avatar yet again (after Barfi) for her role as MC Mary Kom in the boxer's biopic. A Sanjay Leela Bhansali production, it will mark the directorial debut of Omung Kumar.

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. Pic/ Pradeep Dhivar

The 30-year-old will be styled by designer Rajat Tangri for the film, which is slated to go on floors by July this year. "Priyanka will have a very different look in this film. People won't see her in her usual glamourous self. She will sport an essentially de-glam look, to get into the skin of the character; I know she will carry it off very well because she has the ability of transforming herself depending on the requirement of the character she is playing," shares Tangri, who has also styled Kangna Ranaut in Shootout At Wadala.

Five-time World Boxing champion, Mary Kom.

The real deal
The designer adds that the styling is at the research level at the moment. Since, it's a biopic, he is trying to achieve as authenticated a look as possible, for which he has been making trips to Manipur to see Mary Kom's hometown, Kangathei, how people live there and other influences. "Manipur is a fascinating place, the people from around 100 tribes live there and Mary Kom belongs to a tribe Kom (that's how she gets her surname), who call themselves the descendants of Thai. Each tribe has its own crafts, weaves, patterns and colours, which are specific to that particular tribe," informs Tangri.

Designer Rajat Tangri

Spilling beans on Chopra's look, Tangri reveals that it has been divided into four stages depending on when Mary Kom was a kid and took up boxing, her post-marriage stage, when she got into boxing and finally, when she becomes a champion. Depending on the stages, the look will change from a traditional one to a more athletic, sporty one.

Play the part
To add a flavour of realism, Tangri bought a couple of sarongs from Manipur, which are traditional wrap-arounds worn by women of all ages in the region. "Priyanka will be seen wearing sarongs a lot in the film because when I went to Manipur I saw women mainly wearing T-shirts, sweaters or blazers and traditional sarongs," he mentions, adding that Mary Kom is integrally involved in the film because the film is on her but as far as the clothes are concerned she has not put too many guidelines. She made available a lot of reference material including photographs to help Tangri create the look.u00a0