Lin Laishram, who had a supporting part in the National Award-winning film Mary Kom, believes that the eponymous character, which Priyanka Chopra portrayed admirably, could have been performed by “anybody from the North East.” Mary Kom follows real-life boxing champion MC Mary Kom, a Manipuri female fighter who goes on to win six world amateur boxing titles.

Marking the titular role in the biopic, Lin Laishram 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.”

Lin Laishram, who was last seen in a short film titled Ave Maria, also stated that the casting of actors from the North East “is stereotyped” and “they are stuck to a very small genre of their own.” She told Bollywood Hungama: “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 (Mary Kom’s script) 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.”