Chandu Champion Review: Ambitious biopic marred by cheesy dialogues, subpar acting by Kartik Aaryan

In an industry where trans actors barely get to play transgender roles, expecting disabled actors to play the differently abled is like asking for the moon. But hey, who am I to complain if Petkar himself was in tears having watched Aaryan’s portrayal of his condition on screen?

I try my best to not repeat phrases like “overreliance on formulas”, “a cliched film” or the dreaded “this film is a formulaic win” in my reviews every week. I am also getting increasingly worried about just how many sports biopics the audience (and this critic) can digest. The deluge has been more than satiating and it seems there’s less appetite in cinemagoers to watch slightly different but mostly the same iterations of Dangal-Bhaag Milkha Bhaag-Shabaash Mithu (or whatever inspirational figure is being appropriated next).

Chandu Champion Overview

By no way does this mean that India’s first paralympian and Padma Shree awardee Murlikant Petkar doesn’t deserve a biopic of his own. In fact, it is a shame no filmmaker considered a biopic on the sports veteran until Kabir Khan decided to document his legacy, which the director deserves credit for.

But good intentions only get you so far. Chandu Champion is an ambitious biopic that portrays the many trials and tribulations Chandu had to overcome before he finally left a mark as an Olympic athlete. But must this adulation come at the cost of cheesy dialogues, subpar dialogue delivery and melodramatic scenes?

Also read: ‘Chandu Champion’ first reviews: Netizens call Kartik Aaryan starrer film ‘Shaandaar, Zaandaar, Zabardast’

Chandu Champion Plot

Kartik Aaryan plays Chandu, the underdog who is underestimated to an offensive degree by his counterparts. The incessant bullying he is subjected to as a child, ignites a spark in him—”ek din ye Chandu champion banke dikhaega”, he says. One would say negative reinforcement doesn’t work but for Chandu, it gives him the courage to join the army, where he takes on the enemy and survives a life-altering accident which leaves him disabled.

Chandu Champion Writing And Performance

Kartik Aaryan has clearly outgrown the Pyaar Ka Punchnama monologue typecast and displays range as an actor in the film. He is no longer the frustrated incel in Luv Ranjan’s films. He is now appropriating the legacy and disability of an athlete, not in a way that is more subtle and mellow like Rani Mukherjee in Hitchki or Rajkummar Rao is last month’s Srikanth. Instead, it is as over- the-top and exaggerated as Aamir Khan in Laal Singh Chadha and caricaturish like Tushar Kapoor in Golmaal series.

In an industry where trans actors barely get to play transgender roles, expecting disabled actors to play the differently abled is like asking for the moon. But hey, who am I to complain if Petkar himself was in tears having watched Aaryan’s portrayal of his condition on screen? And I am not even talking about how stereotypical the South Indian accent sounds in the film. It is quite jarring and borderline offensive (I’m a Punjabi). Add to it subpar dialogue delivery and a plot which plays out like a typical sports biopic and you have pretty much the same iteration of Dangal meets 83 meets Shaabash Mithu.

Also read: As Chandu Champion hits the marquee, check out Kartik Aaryan's top 5 box office openers so far

Chandu Champion: What Works, What Doesn’t

While most media outlets are already calling this Kartik Aaryan’s career defining performance, I am afraid I liked him better as a ranting twenty-something year-old man in Luv Ranjan’s films. At least he seemed authentic as a man frustrated with the women in his life. In Chandu Champion, Kartik seems to have put all the work on his physical transformation and spent so much time in the gym, that he falls short of emoting well on-screen.

The bits that work in the film—think war montages, the eight-minute single-take sequence pre- interval are courtesy Kabir Khan who, in the past, has enthralled us with Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2016). The credit goes more to the director than the actor. Vijay Raaz brings his brand of deadpan humour in a few scenes but even that seems overbearing at times. If you are in for another sports biopic which follows the usual template in the genre. Chandu Champion is now playing in theatres.

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