South actress alters her girl-next-door image by playing a boxer a la Mary Kom in A R Murugadoss' Tamil thriller 'Thuppakki'

After Mary Kom's win at the London Olympics, the boxing champ inspired several filmmakers to make movies based on a female pugilist. Sanjay Leela Bhansali announced that he is making a biopic based on the Manipur-based champion.

But Ghajini director A R Murugadoss' soon-to-release Tamil thriller Thuppakki is ready for the bout. His film starring Vijay has the female protagonist essayed by Singham actress Kajal Aggarwal as a boxer.

Kajal, who has featured in several South flicks, has mostly played the role of the sweet-girl-next-door. So getting into the ring was a singularly unique experience.

She says, `As boxer Nisha, I am this strong willed, impulsive girl. I watched a lot of Mary Kom's matches. Initially I started watching her matches to just understand and learn her body language. Later I was totally gripped and I was following her bouts during the Olympics as well.`


Mary Kom

A source from the sets adds, `The role of Nisha was quite challenging for Kajal but she managed to pull it off. It helped her explore the athlete in her that she thought was non-existent!`

Kajal's has been styled and designed by Komal Shahani for the film. A lot of references were taken by how Kom dressed up for her bouts. Apart from her South film commitments, Kajal will also be seen with Akshay Kumar in Neeraj Pandey's upcoming film based on the 1987 Mumbai jewellery shop heist.