Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and Kabir Khan Films’ Chandu Champion (UA) is a biopic of Murlikant Petkar whose life was full of challenges — imaginable and unimaginable — but who surmounted all the obstacles in his path and realised his childhood dream of winning an Olympic medal.
Murlikant Petkar (Kartik Aaryan) joins the Indian Army only because he is told that the Army could be the ticket to the realisation of his childhood dream — of winning an Olympic medal. Since there’s a quota for army personnel, Murlikant follows friend Karnail Singh’s (Bhuvan Arora) advice and becomes an army man. Right from his classmates to his family and colleagues in the army, nobody takes him seriously when he expresses a keen desire to win an Olympic medal. Rather, they make fun of him. The barbs and taunts actually serve to make him more resolute in pursuing his dream. However, a medal in boxing becomes an unachievable dream for Murlikant when tragedy strikes on the battlefield. How he, with guidance and coaching by Tiger Ali (Vijay Raaz), bounces back is what the inspirational story is all about.
Kabir Khan, Sumit Arora and Sudipto Sarkar have written an absolutely heartfelt story about what it means to pursue a dream like a man possessed and what it entails to bounce back when life deals you a severe blow. The trio’s screenplay is beautifully written. The first half has its share of light moments which often bring a smile to the face and even evoke laughter sometimes. The drama becomes more serious and emotional after interval when Murlikant is down and out with not even a ray of hope coming his way. The latter part of the post-interval portion is so inspirational that the audience often get gooseflesh while the drama unfolds. The emotional scenes involving Murlikant and his family members are very touching and would make the weak-hearted cry and weep. In particular, the scene between Murlikant and his elder brother, Jagannath (Aniruddh Dave), in the hospital premises is so heart-wrenching that it would be remembered for years to come. That scene could move even the stone-hearted to tears. The climax is pure exhilaration.
Kabir Khan, Sumit Arora and Sudipto Sarkar’s dialogues are powerful. Murlikant’s patent dialogue — ‘Ae, hansta kaay ko re?’ — is pretty appealing.
Kartik Aaryan lives the role of Murlikant Petkar. His praiseworthy physical transformation apart, he essays the character so beautifully that one’s heart goes out to him. His character is very endearing and his resolve is so rock-solid that the viewers root for him and empathise with him throughout. Vijay Raaz is outstanding as Murlikant’s coach, Tiger Ali. His acting is phenomenal! Raaz’s expressions and body language are to die for. This would easily rank as one of Vijay Raaz’s best performances so far. Bhuvan Arora is lovely as Karnail Singh. His ‘Achually’ for ‘Actually’ is cute. Aniruddh Dave deserves distinction marks for his heartfelt performance as Murlikant’s elder brother, Jagannath. He kills it in the hospital scene with Murlikant. Hemangi Kavi delivers a wonderful performance as Murlikant’s mother. Nitin Bhajan is supremely natural as Murlikant’s father. Shreyas Talpade is outstanding in the role of police inspector Kamble. Bhagyashri Borse is good in the role of Naintara. Rajpal Yadav lends excellent support as Topaz. Yashpal Sharma leaves a lovely mark as Uttam Singh. Ganesh Yadav is nice as Ganpat Rao Khedkar. Aayan Khan is tops as young Murlikant. Samyak is quite nice as the teenaged Jagannath. Brijendra Kala is endearing as prisoner Ashok. Shyam Raj Patil and Pushkaraj Chirputkar are entertaining as the two constables. Aroh Welankar has his moments as Arjun. Digvijay Rohidas (as Nanabhai Patil), Amit Kumar (as Dagdu Patil), Devendra Mishra (as the Major in Secunderabad), Sonali Kulkarni (as the newspaper editor), Vinod Chandel (as the photo journalist), Ravi Kiran Dixit (as the Brigadier at the headquarters), Harsh Singh (as the Brigadier at Udhampur), Krishna (as the soldier at Udhampur), Jagat Rawat (as the army doctor at Udhampur), Yogesh Kulkarni (as the doctor at INHS), Dilnaz Irani (as the strict nurse at INHS), Amit Ghosh (as Chatterjee) and Hemant Kumar Choudhary (as the Brigadier at Secunderabad) lend wonderful support.
Kabir Khan’s direction is extraordinary. His genius as a story-teller is evident in several scenes. His narrative style is such that the audience gets sucked into the drama right from the word ‘go’. Pritam’s music is good but should’ve been better. In a film like this, a couple of super-hit songs could’ve been of great help in augmenting its commercial value. Lyrics (Amitabh Bhattacharya, Kausar Munir and I.P. Singh) are interesting. Song picturisations (by Bosco-Caesar) are nice. Julius Packiam’s background music is extraordinary, creating the right tension and excitement at the right places. Sudeep Chatterjee’s cinematography is superb. His camera movements are so integral to the drama that they seem to be a key character in the film. Amar Shetty’s action and stunt scenes are thrilling. Production designing (by Rajnish Hedao, Sumit Basu and Snigdha Basu) is of a high order. Nitin Baid’s editing is super-sharp.
On the whole, Chandu Champion may be a slow starter but its positive word of mouth will see collections grow and comfortably take it to the winning post.
Released on 14-6-’24 at Inox (daily 9 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment. Publicity: fair. Opening: so-so. …….Also released all over. Opening was average at many places.