Keeping It Real

KARTIK AARYAN SHOWS OFF HIS ACTING PROWESS AS MURLIKANT PETKAR, INDIA'S FIRST PARALYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST, IN THE KABIR KHAN-DIRECTED CHANDU CHAMPION

- Suhani Singh

Kartik Aaryan isn’t the sort to play it safe. His films are proof enough. For every part two of a successful film (Love Aaj Kal and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2) and bromance (Pyaar Ka Punchnama films and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety), there’s Dhamaka and Freddy, dramas where he’s a complex anti-hero. Another addition to the mix of risky adventures was the recently released Chandu Champion, the Kabir Khan directed biopic on Murlikant Petkar, India’s first paralympic gold medallist.

The film doesn’t have the usual tropes of his earlier films—a love interest, an earworm of a song with an exciting hook step which goes viral, or just plain old laughs. Says Kartik, “That’s the beauty of it. I really feel it is all about the story, the moment I heard it I was all in.”

Enough has been written about the striking physique required to play the gifted Patil who excelled in multiple sports. Kartik had to learn to wrestle, box and swim, the latter like a paralympian no less, which in turn meant changing physiques. He also parted with his thick mop of hair.