Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Vijay Raaz, Aroh Walenkar, Shreyas Talpade, Sonali Kulkarni (in a special appearance) and others
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 4 stars
Probably after filmmaker J P Dutta, best known for depicting historical wars on celluloid, it was only director Kabir Khan, who took the baton ahead of keeping the genre alive on-screen. Debuting with a commercial documentary lookalike Kabul Express, Kabir took the legacy a notch higher. Soon after, with New York (2006), Ek Tha Tiger (2012), and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), he certainly paved his path to becoming one of the greatest storytellers of Hindi cinema.
With box office numbers and star powers favouring him with every film he helmed, Kabir knew the big game of Bollywood. Forget the cast, he even played bigger and better with his subjects— from scale to magnitude. With Chandu Champion, he has put bets on the rising star Kartik Aaryan to bring the life of Padma Shri awardee Murlikant Petkar, a freestyle swimmer to the big screen.
Kabir-Kartik’s camaraderie delivers a ‘CHAMPION’ sports biopic. However, it is a little awkward to fathom how Kartik doesn’t look like Kabir Khan’s hero, perhaps, Salman Khan or Ranveer Singh are way powerful personalities for the kinds of films Kabir directs.
Murlikant Petkar hails from the Marathi family of Sangli, and Kartik doesn’t look close to what it is— a Maharashtrian boy from an underprivileged household, but still, Kabir’s ability to handle his shortcomings in his own way makes Chandu Champion a must watch. Although, the film looked underwhelming in its first impression but rather it is way above the expectations set by the industry insiders.
Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De! India (2007), however, changed the face of sports films in the industry, Neeraj Pandey’s MS Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), a biopic on the celebrated Indian Cricketer also made it to the list of best sports films to date. Sultan (2016) and Dangal proved to be career defining films for Salman and Aamir respectively. In middle of these good ones— Azhar, Saina. Gold. Maidaan, Toofan, Rashmi Rocket, Shabaash Mithu, Freaky Ali, Hawaa Hawaai, Soorma, Panga just vanished.
After a long time, a sports film has arrived that is not glorified being a biopic and is entertaining simultaneously. It is entirely Kabir’s vision and Kartik’s honesty to make the film an interesting watch. Formerly known as Rajjo and Sonu, Kartik now is a proud owner of a new name— Chandu Champion. His hard work, dedication, focus is evident throughout. Since he is synonymous to rom-coms and lighter roles, Chandu is easily a novel character for him in his filmography.
Vijay Raaz as coach Ali is an artist par excellence. His sincerity towards craft doesn’t need any introduction. Shreyas Talpade as cop has nothing much to offer but brings comic relief to the film. Sonali, on the other hand has the shortest screen time as she plays a journalist and is good. Farzi fame Bhuvan Arora, plays Kartik’s inmate and he is simply enjoyable. Aroh Walenkar is decent enough to notice.
Chandu Champion triumphs whole heartedly. Watch it for the love of sports, Kartik’s undying spirit of performing good and Kabir’s crystal clear vision of carving a biopic.
