For Delhi-based Darshan Kumar, acting had always been on his mind from a very young age. And now, he’s looking forward to Mary Kom hitting screens, for he plays the lead alongside Priyanka Chopra in it. Darshan plays Onler, Mary’s husband, in the film. Talking about how he landed the project, he says, “I got a call from the casting director and attended the audition. After a series of meetings with the director, I met Priyanka and it was finalised.”
Although this is not his first film (Darshan has done NH10 with Anushka Sharma that will release later), Darshan is quite excited to be working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “I have seen his films; he is a legend who is associated with larger-than-life movies,” he exclaims, adding that he feels “honoured and humbled” to be acting in one of his productions.
However, with Mary Kom being a female-centric film, does he feel he is the odd one out? “Not at all,” he says, “Onler (the husband) is a pillar of support and strength for Mary. He motivated her to achieve her dreams. He is the real hero in both the script and in life.” It was only natural that Darshan took to acting. Describing himself as “a typical Jat boy from New Delhi, Darshan moved to Mumbai when he was 24. He joined Neena Gupta’s theatre group Sahej and later moved to Motley Productions where he learnt a lot about acting from the versatile Naseeruddin Shah.
His experience in theatre has helped him a lot in films, but he says that there’s one major difference between the two. “In films, there’s almost no time to rehearse but you get to do many takes. On the other hand, in theatre, you can rehearse many times before the actual performance, which is just one shot, one take,” he laughs.
Darshan believes that films like Mary Kom are the need of the hour. “The story is an inspiration to all of us. India has several heroic stories like this and they need to be told to audiences.”
Priyanka Chopra, he says, was amazing to work with. “She would shoot all through the day for 15 hours and train late at night for another 3 hours. Her dedication and hard work are inspiring. She is truly a ‘hero’.”
