One man, many sports

Chandu Champion

When director Kabir Khan shared Murlikant Petkar's life story with writer Sumit Arora, he was gobsmacked. He wondered, ‘All this happened to one person!' From this place of marvel was born Chandu Champion. The Kartik Aaryan-led biopic traces how Petkar, a rookie wrestler, joined the Indian Army, where he became a boxer. After the 1965 India-Pakistan war left him paralysed waist-down, he learnt swimming and went on to win India's first Paralaympic gold medal in 1972. The biopic's writing process entailed long Zoom calls with the man himself.

Arora recalls, "Kabir had already met him before we started writing. On Zoom calls, [we realised] that all the things that were fascinating for us were routine to him. He would tell us matter-of-factly, ‘I woke up from a two-year coma and then learnt swimming.' From his childhood, he was clear about his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal. That dream never left him. That was our take-away from the meeting."

Murlikant Petkar

Over the past few years, Bollywood has witnessed a spurt in sports biopics - from Khan's 83 (2021) to Ajay Devgn's Maidaan and now, Chandu Champion. How does a writer then make his story stand out? It's all in the details, says Arora. "What makes this different from other sports biopics? That was a question we asked ourselves. From day one, it was clear to us that this man's never-give-up spirit is something that hasn't been tapped in a Hindi film. Also, here is a man who played sports in two categories." The writer was also cautious of not making it a hagiography, a route that many biopics in India take. "What made him a hero was not his body; it was his spirit. We glorified his spirit, not him."

Sumit Arora

The movie marks the director's first collaboration with Aaryan. It was the actor's "boyish charm" that landed him the role. Arora shares, "We started writing without a face in mind because we wanted to tell the story first. During that process, Kabir thought of Kartik and felt he had a boyish charm. Kartik was hungry to do a role like this." Despite the leading man's popularity and Khan's credibility, Chandu Champion opened to underwhelming box-office numbers. Did the team feel the pinch? "We're getting a lot of love. What matters to me is that whoever is going for the film, has loved it."