Seldom does an actor from the mainstream cinema get a chance to showcase his skills as beneficially as Kartik Aaryan does in Kabir Khan’s Chandu Champion.
For this Kartik must be thankful to God, Murlikant Petkar and Kabir Khan, not necessarily I that order. At the end of the take, it is the actor and not God or the real-life figure or the director, but the actor who creates the required impression.
Watching Kartik go through a gargantuan spectrum of emotions and physical changes in the trailer of Chandu Champion I was reminded of what composer Naushad had said about Lata Mangeshkar: “I agree,the lyricist, composer even the sound recordist plays a hand in the creation of a song. But it is finally the singer’s interpretation that decides the fate of the song. What would the songs that Lata sang be worth without her singing?”
By Naushad Saab’s reckoning, Kartik Aaryan’s interpretation of Murlikant Petker determines which was the bio-pic heads.
And going by the trailer it seems Kartik has caught the sur of the performance by its lapel. Kartik, in a never-before avatar, is shown as a determined fighter, both off and in the ring, wrestling the three Ps: poverty, prejudice and political prevarication with the surety of a trapeze artiste perched high above the ground.
There is a level of dramatic tension in the plot that Kartik has not negotiated before.He can hardly be expected to tackle dramatic summits in Bhool Bhulaiya or Lukka Chuppi.
And he seems to be up to the task. Director Kabir Khan is very confident of the end-product. “I hate to say it myself . But it is genuinely a very good film.Very inspirational and entertaining. Fingers crossed. But only because the audience in unpredictable.The trailer is well cut, so the buzz has gone up.And we have fabulous songs. So I’m proud and confident of the film.Also, this time there is no Omicron to mess it up.”
