Kartik Aaryan gets candid about ‘Chandu Champion’

Gwalior: Kartik Aaryan said that the story of ‘Chandu Champion’ had so many twists and turns that when director Kabir Khan first narrated the film to him, he wondered if it was a true story or a fictional one. Based on the life of India’s first Paralympic gold medallist Murlikant Petkar, the upcoming sports biopic will see Aaryan as ‘the man who refused to surrender’.

The actor arrived in his hometown Gwalior on Saturday evening, along with Khan and producer Sajid Nadiadwala, to launch the trailer of ‘Chandu Champion’.

“The first time I heard the story, the first question I asked was ‘Is it real? Did it really happen?’ or ‘Is this fictional?’. There are so many twists and turns and historical moments in his story that it was next to impossible to believe,” Aaryan told reporters in Gwalior.

“I was in shock when I heard the narration for the first time. But to my surprise, everything was based on life instances. I was just amazed and was even sceptical for a month or so because I wanted to do it. But I wondered if I would be able to pull it off,” he added.

The trailer of ‘Chandu Champion’ shows the titular character’s journey across ages and phases, including being an Indian Army soldier, a wrestler, a boxer, a 1965 war veteran and a swimmer. The 3.15-minute video ends with elderly Chandu declaring that he wants to file a case of cheating against the President of India.

Aaryan, 33, said that ‘Chandu Champion’ is his ‘proudest’ film to date which required him to undergo strenuous physical training.

“I was going to the gym daily, not having food, not doing any other film but just focusing on one picture for one and a half years. I became a robot, I became a machine and I was just following orders from them and here we are,” he recalled.

Khan, whose last directorial venture was sports drama ‘83’, was all praise for the leading man for building his body naturally for the film. “At times, I would wonder if this would be achieved or not because it was an impossible task. Kartik made his body naturally without any substance. For one and a half years, he didn’t consume sugar. Whatever he liked to eat, it wasn’t allowed (as part of his strict regimen),” he said.

The filmmaker said that he kept a check on the actor’s diet even while he was shooting for the 2023 romance drama ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’.