CHANDU CHAMPION: Movie Review

Director Kabir Khan has helmed some of the most interesting and game-changing films in Hindi cinema, including mainstream hits like Ek Tha Tiger and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, as well as notable titles like New York and 83. With his latest biopic Chandu Champion, director Khan honors the life and legacy of Murlikant Petkar, a lesser known figure in the world of Indian athletics and gives his story a larger-than-life cinematic treatment. Since Khan first got his start in documentary work, it’s no surprise that the filmmaker knows how to work a sense of restraint into his movies, especially when it comes to a biopic like Chandu Champion. Whereas so many other filmmakers would have resorted to an overly melodramatic take, Chandu Champion finds sentimentality without the usual Bollywood tropes of chest-thumping nationalism or a forced romantic subplot. Instead, it talks about dreams and ambitions in a way that feels grounded, even if it’s accompanied by the occasional inspiring background music. There is a sense of technical ambition to Chandu Champion that has become rare to see in biopics like these; even if the film never reinvents the wheel, there is something pure and inspiring about its tale of overcoming the odds.

Kartik Aaryan is front and center throughout Chandu Champion, which is one of his more intense dramatic roles to date. While he has taken a swing at more dramatic turns in films like Satyaprem Ki Katha, Freddy, and Dhamaka, this is one of Aaryan’s most ambitious turns yet, with a complete physical transformation and a role that goes through the various stages of Murlikant Petkar’s life. In his role here, Aaryan imbues the wide-eyed optimism of Petkar well; his can-do attitude comes alive under Aaryan’s equally enthusiastic performance, even though the other nuances feel missing. Vijay Raaz lends a seasoned supporting presence as Tiger Ali, Petkar’s mentor who sees him as a way of fulfilling his own unfulfilled dreams. Also solid here are Rajpal Yadav in a slightly unnecessary role and Bhuvan Arora as Garnail Singh, Murlikant’s trusted friend.

Chandu Champion is the type of biopic filmmaking that Hindi cinema seems to have become adverse to as of late; it’s a largely restrained, straightforward, yet compelling story about the incredible and unbelievable life of Murlikant Petkar. Director Kabir Khan is clearly an intelligent director, with a penchant for capturing the realism and detail of the various stages of Petkar’s life, and there is clearly a great deal of effort put in the film to make it feel real. In one of the film’s most notable sequences, a oner is used to capture the sudden moments when Petkar’s life transforms in the warzone, solidifying the notion that war takes away from the potential of so many athletes and people around the world. It’s a refreshing stance in a landscape still crowded with films like Fighter; it’s nice to see a film capture a different side of national spirit that is about the contributions of an individual, and not about the jargon of propaganda. Despite its successes though, Chandu Champion is definitely too long and a bit too sloppy; its scope is epic but it stumbles especially in its last act, shifting back and forth between the present and past for a jumbled and rushed bookend to an otherwise solid film. Ultimately, Chandu Champion is not the most memorable Indian sports biopic, but it deserves credit for its technical finesse and restraint.