Exclusive - Kabir Khan says he didn’t have any other actor in my mind other than Kartik Aaryan for the role of ‘Chandu Champion’

Kabir said the idea of making a movie about Murlikant Petkar came to him by chance when he read an article on him. (Image via Instagram)

Director Kabir Khan, who is working with Kartik Aaryan for the first time in 'Chandu Champion', spoke about how he always had the 'Bhool Bhulaiya' actor in mind while thinking about this sports biopic.

Kabir Khan was in Delhi recently with Kartik for the film's promotions, and he revealed that he didn't think of any other actor than Kartik for the role of Chandu in his film 'Chandu Champion.'

In an exclusive conversation with MoneyControl, Kabir Khan said their meeting, which was meant to last for half an hour, actually went on for more than two hours.

"When I was writing the script itself, there was a certain image that you create for the character, and at that stage itself, Kartik was definitely thinking about it because there was some youthfulness in the character I needed, which was there in him. I had already seen his performances in earlier films, but those films were not necessarily giving me a clue as to whether he could perform Chandu Champion or not. There are certain other elements you want to discover, so the process was only meeting and chatting. It was a very casual meeting; we met for dinner, and it was meant to be a half-hour conversation, but it ended up being a two and a half-hour conversation," he told us.

Kabir said he "saw elements that I thought would be correct for Chandu Champion' in Kartik.

"And in that itself, we started understanding that there is a certain vibe, an understanding we have, and an ease of communication that the two of us have. Kabhi kabhi hota hai na kisi ke saath aap baat hi nahi kar sakte, woh thoda sa lagta hai that it is not going anywhere. But that ease was there from our first meeting itself. So you knew that he was the person you could communicate with. And in the course of the subsequent two or three meetings, I saw elements that I thought would be correct for Chandu Champion, and that's when we got down seriously talking about the story, and then I even narrated parts of the story to him, and that's when we finally decided to come together," Kabir added.

Did you have any other actors in mind?

"Not really. The thing is that when you start thinking about one actor, imagery is what forms in your mind, and you don't want any other. Off course God forbid if Kartik, for whatever reasons, was not able to do it, or if he had said that for some reason I am not interested in it, then you would move on because you also want the actor to be excited about it. Sometimes you see that actors take the film but realize that they are doing it for the wrong reasons. Sometimes they are doing the film just because of the project itself, or they may genuinely want to work with me. But this particular idea of mine has not excited them. But in this case, all the combinations worked together," he said.

Kabir You have worked with Irrfan, John, Salman, and Kartik, four different actors. How was the experience with all of them?

"It was completely different working with all of them. It is like you have five friends, and they are not going to be the same. Every individual comes with their own strengths and weaknesses. And I think a large part of being a director is people management. A large part of the director is balancing the energy of 100 people on your set. And making sure they come together to realise your vision. And, of course, your chief collaborator is always the actor. So, as I said, it is important to understand the energy of the person—what they like and what they don't like. I can use their strengths in the film and may hide their weaknesses in the film. So that's important, and everybody has their own process. Some are more studied and come with a lot of prep and homework. Some are more instinctive, like sort of reacting to the script. Some are hybrids."

Praising Kartik for his hard work that went into the actor turning into Chandu for the movie, Kabir said Kartik did all his homework, and then it became easy to work.

"Kartik in that part is somebody who enjoyed the process and did all the homework that was required. Kartik did all his homework and was well prepared on sets. He is the monologue boy, so he always remembered his dialogues. So dialogue was never an issue. So the best thing was that we were able to bring the hard work, the workshop, and the readings that he had done into the thing yet retain the spontaneity of the situation, reacting to the line, you co-star. That's when you start enjoying the film. Otherwise, if you do what you had decided three months ago, ki bas aise hi karna hai toh, it becomes very boring ho jayegi actor and mere liye bhi. Woh roz jo maza ata hai na kaam karke, and you say aaj maza aya," said Kabir.

Kabir said the idea of making a movie about Murlikant Petkar came to him by chance when he read an article on him. He then formed a team to do more research on the sportsmen, and after a few meetings, he decided that he must work on this story.

"The idea only came to me by chance; somebody gave me an old newspaper. I was just completely blown away by the story to the extent that I, for some time, didn't believe that this could be true. How can such a person exist when we don't know about him? When I asked around, nobody seemed to know about him. So, I felt all the more reason that I cannot make a film unless it is validated by somebody. It never left my mind, and then I put together a team to research it and find out where Murlikant Petkar was, and we found him; he lived in Pune. This was between the two lockdowns, and I immediately drove and met him. And after meeting him, I realised that this had to be told. It is such an amazing human story. There is so much drama in it,' said Kabir.

Kabir's eyes were filled with pride when he spoke about meeting Mr. Murlikant Petkar.

"There is so much ups and downs and upheavals that, as a storyteller, you can't expect anything better than this. So for me, it was very instinctive, and most of my films are very instinctive from my gut. I don't overanalyse; agar aapko achcha lag raha hai toh aapko achcha lag raha hai. Never overanalyze ki kyun achcha lag raha hai. Aapko achcha lag raha hai toh kuch toh hai usme that it is making you so excited that you want to start making it," he ended.

Kartik Aaryan starrer 'Chandu Champion' directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, will release on June 14.