Chandu Champion Review - An Inspiring Biopic, Presented Deservingly!

Ashwin Ram

Chandu Champion is a sports drama starring Kartik Aryan in the lead role. The film is directed by Kabir Khan of Bajrangi Bhaijaan fame, music is scored by Pritam.

Premise:

Kartik Aryan as Murlikant Petkar, a man who won a Gold Medal for India in Paralympics under the swimming category. This film portrays his inspiring journey.

Writing/ Direction:

The film never deviates from its core, and it puts a solid situational drama on the foreground at every vital step of the screenplay, which naturally builds a connection for the audience to relate with the lead character. There is enough depth for the main characters who change the dynamics of the storyworld. The transitions are layered and smooth, first the man desires to become a wrestler, then the Indian army life puts him on a boxing stage, then the paralyzed and broken man wins all the hearts by becoming a swimming champion. Many memorable scenes that are executed cleverly, the involvement of the supporting characters make a very big deal in the dramatic areas. There are a few places where the film suffers heavily, the war portions were disjoint and it felt like they were shot in a lazy manner. Plus, the flashback narrative did not make any difference, the lead character coming out and asking for an Arjuna award in his old age… the whole idea was kind of lame. A couple of song placements could have been better, a few sequences in the screenplay were intended to be ambitious with a serious start but left as it is without giving proper closures.

Performances:

Commendable performance from Kartik Aryan, shows great variety such as confidence, vulnerability and physical prowess. The film also has a bunch of valuable supporting artists, Vijay Raaz as the coach and Bhuvan Arora as the friend. Both get good screen-space, importance in the story and they have given their best.

Technicalities:

A completely satisfying music album from Pritam with not even a single dull track. Powerful background score as well, nicely empathizing the highs and lows of the lead character. Top class cinematography, by enhancing the director’s vision and the colour grading is apt too for the period setting. Quality editing, follows the template by inserting the setup reminders right before the payoffs that provide a strong impact.

Bottomline

An engaging life history of Murlikant Petkar, the man who got us a Gold medal in Paralympics. Barring a few flaws, the characters and the drama they go through blend well which makes the output an impactful one.

Rating - 3/ 5