Chandu Champion actor reveals Sushant Singh Rajput was the first choice for the film and not Kartik Aaryan: Story rights were also with SSR...

SSR was first choice for the film Chandu Champion

A startling discovery regarding the original casting of Chandu Champion has surfaced, almost a year after the movie's release. Actor Bhuvan Arora stated in a recent interview that the late Sushant Singh Rajput was originally supposed to portray India's first Paralympic gold medallist, Murlikant Petkar. After Sushant's tragic death in 2020, the movie finally went to Kartik Aaryan.

Speaking to Hindi Rush, Bhuvan Arora recounted a personal encounter with Sushant at the airport, during which the latter shared his plans of making a film on Petkar.

“Ironically, I did a movie Chandu Champion. Initially, Sushant was supposed to do it. He had the rights to that film. Story rights were also with Sushant. He must have bought it from Murlikant Petkar. Even Murlikant sir said it in one of the interviews. I bumped into Sushant at the airport and he told me that he was going to do a film about a paralympic swimmer. We both loved acting and used to talk to each other, we discussed on the film,” he shared.

Arora added that he had forgotten about the exchange until recently. “Obviously, it slipped off my mind. Recently, when Chandu Champion was released, I saw an interview of Murlikant sir in which he said that Sushant was supposed to do this film initially. I don’t know the details of it but ironically, that time I wasn’t there in that movie. Now, I was a part of this film but Sushant wasn’t there,” he said.

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Kartik Aaryan played the lead in Kabir Khan's Chandu Champion, which was released on June 14, 2024. Both critics and viewers gave the film mixed reviews and the film followed around Petkar's inspirational journey.

In June 2020, Sushant Singh Rajput, who was well-known for his love of science and sports as well as his intense acting style, passed away. Conflicting reports have suggested both foul play and suicide, leaving his death shrouded in mystery. His sisters in particular are still fighting for justice in this case.