Chandu Champion Movie Review — Sucharita Tyagi
Since some of his earlier work, I’ve been holding out hope to see Kartik Aaryan in a dramatic role, directed by a filmmaker who has a point to make, just sort of steered in the right direction.
Has that finally happened?
Biographies aur Bollywood, yeh do shabd mushkil se saamanjasya mein bath te hain, more often than not biographies ke naam par ya toh hagiography milti hai, ya zabardasti ka “rula hi dena hai chaahe kuch ho jaaye” mish-mash of loud underlay music and freely crying actors. Toh jab Chandu Champion announce hui, aur jaana ki Murlikant Petkar HAIN kaun, jinpar film likhi hai, pehle toh laga ki kamaal hai inka naam jaante nahi hum, doosra achambha hua yeh film abhi tak kisi ne banaayi kaise nahi. Kahaani mein INBUILT conflict aur resolution bhar ke hain.
Murlikant se film mein jab pehli mulaakat hoti hai, he is an old man, bent over, struggling to move, trying but failing to complain to a police station. Unko pehchaan -na toh door, koi seriously nahi le raha, the cops are in a rush to make a court appointment. Straight up the film is making the case for an apology to its protagonist. The rest of it, predictably plays out in many flashback sequences, starting from when a young Murlikant discovered his desire to be different, able, and famous. Two things he was born with, the third unfortunately eluded him, until the events of this film. In the present time, we’re between 2017 and 2018.
Chandu Champion ke beats ya screenplay style naya ya novel nahi hai, umpteen number of films have perfected this format. However, unlike a Laal Singh Chaddha, Chandu Champion ka centerpiece isn’t historical events that happened around its protagonist, but rather on how single-minded focus, and eyes on the prize propelled him forward, despite everything coming in the way, historical events included. While you cut through the layers of class divides on your way to the top, strange and wonderful things are bound to happen, because the journey is so arduous and fast-paced, every day is an unintended adventure.
Murlikant Petkar ki unpredictable LIFE makes up for the predictability of the screenplay. “All is lost” moment is kahaani mein ek nahi 3 ya 4 aati hain, but alag-alag mini climaxes hone ke baavjood, Kabir aur cowriters Sumit Arora, Sudipto Sarkar keep their hold on the material tight. We keep cutting back to that police station where Murlikant is trying to lodge a complaint against all President of India for not giving him an Arjun award for sports, as if to highlight ki yeh anokhi, and audacious demand pales when compared to the life he lived. So yes, we move forward from one achievement to the next, following a straightforward timeline, but we are also being reminded the story is still incomplete. Despite all the wins we’re showing you right now, hold on tight for the big one.
Cinematography by Sudeep Chatterjee is magnificent, Kartik Aaryan has never looked better. And not because he shed all the weight, the physical transformation was a choice the actor has made, one doubts if boxers and athletes in the 60s had 8-pack abs. He LOOKS stunning because this transformation is lit and shot like a beast slowly taking shape. In the boxing ring, when anger fuels this young man, the light licks him like flames of a fire, sweat acting as petroleum igniting it further. When in a later mini-climax, he’s competitively swimming, each stroke is deliberately slowed down, each propel forward becoming the culmination of an earlier sub-plot that brought the athlete to this point. When he FIRST is recruited for the army, just happy to have a job and finally a community, the song Satyanash is shot like an out-of-control boy’s party. In its final frames, the young recruits are on TOP of a moving train, silhouetted against a setting sun, stark in how skinny and childlike they look. You can make out their age, enthusiasm, and hope, even when they appear as mere black outlines.
It helps immensely that Kartik Aaryan is on a war path to claim a bigger slice of the “Bollywood superstar” pie, this is undoubtedly his career-best performance. The young lad he plays through MOST of the film is the embodiment of a newly independent India. With a toothy grin, and hope for a better future, Kartik is the India that was born right as the 40s came to a close, shown promises of what could be, but left to its own devices to come out of the state it had been left in, make it in a world that spoke a different language, and had centuries worth of a head start. Kartik is PARTICULARLY effective in scenes he shares with his older brother played by an incredible Aniruddh Dave and his coach, played by Vijay Raaz, mentor figures who came to Murlikant’s aid at different points, but also abandoned him, the latter action teaching him more about life. He also riffs incredibly well with Yashpal Sharma, Rajpal Yadav, and an EXTREMELY watchable Bhuvan Arora. Kabir Khan surrounds his lead actor with a support cast that actually supports him, making his protagonist take a back seat when a scene requires him to sit and shed silent tears, as his brother towers over him. As Murli’s life proceeds, and the youthful anger leaves his body, the story is propelled by those AROUND him, their determinations, and its these scenes, and thankfully not any dramatic monologues, Kabir and Kartik both excel in.
In one of the film’s earlier scenes, Murli is running away from a murderous mob. Within this chase you see him complete a sort of triathalon, wrestling, sprinting, swimming, jumping, foreshadowing what his life is going to be. A better sequence than the 1 take war scene that’s been spoken about. Go watch the movie and tell me tumko kaunsa behtar lagaa.
