Review : Chandu Champion : Riveting biography!
#Biographies are doing well in #Bollywood and a lot of A-List actors are engaging in portraying biographical characters on screen. #KartikAaryan takes the the challenge of paying a tribute to an unsung hero of the nation. There has been innumerable stories which should get national exposure as they are inspiring and interesting too. Chandu Champion tells the story of a young village lad who joins #IndianArmy to fulfil his dream of winning an #OlympicGoldmedal. Obviously his journey is not smooth and that’s why it becomes an inspirational story. After multi-person biographical sports drama ’83, writer, director #KabirKhan presents a sports biographical film of an Indian soldier #MurlikantPetkar who was the first #IndianParalympicGoldMedalist.
Murlikant Rajaram Petkar dreams of winning an Olympic medal since childhood. He starts training for wresting under the guidance of veteran wrestler (Ganesh Yadav) but due to some difficult circumstances runs away to Poona where he meets Karnail Singh (Bhuvan Arora) who guides him to join Army to fulfil his Olympic dream. Murli joins Army and becomes a successful boxer beating established players of the world. In 1965 a war erupts an he gets shot with 9 bullets but he survives. But it makes him paralyzed waist down. His coach Tiger Ali (Vijay Raaj) induces him to pursue his dream of Olympic medal by participating in Paralympics. What transpires later and before forms the crux of the story.
Making biopic is a difficult task as margin for error is negligible. Director Kabir Khan narrates the story of Murlikant Petkar in detail but it culminates into the first half getting a little slack. But the tempo picks up in the second half and instead of sympathizing with the lead character viewers cheer him. The emotional bonds, Murli with brother, mother, Murli with coach, Murli with friend for life Karnail Singh etc. are well knitted and upraises the emotional quotient thus making the proceedings more humane. Kabir Khan has avoided melodrama which is laudable. Music complements the situations and the cinematography, art direction and technical sides are very good.
Kartik Aaryan’s body transformation is excellent. He has kept his face innocent throughout which wins the heart. He has delivered a tremendously subtle performance and has elevated emotional scenes with exact amount of emotions depicting inner turmoils of the character. Vijay Raaz has delivered a strong performance and his emotional burst is well executed. Shreyas Talpade and Hemangi Kavi shine despite limited screen time. Others lend good support. The movie throws a subtle message too in the process.
Chandu Champion is an inspiraional and riveting sports biopic which definitely should be watched on big screen.
Rating : ***1/2
By Keerti Kadam