A ripped Kartik Aaryan wrestles, boxes and sprints to realise his childhood dream of becoming a “champion” after miraculously surviving near-fatal bullet injuries as an Indian soldier in the first trailer of Chandu Champion, a biopic on India’s first Paralympic gold medalist Murlikant Petkar.
The three-minute-15-second-long trailer, dropped by the makers on Sunday, opens with Kartik’s Chandu waking up from a coma in 1967 after a war. The subsequent scenes take us through Chandu’s journey from a nondescript village to the Indian Army.
Murlikant is nicknamed “Chandu Champion” by his classmates, who often tease him about his dreams. “Hasta Kaheko Hai (Why do you laugh?)” Chandu says in a thick Marathi accent, taking on the challenge to prove his bullies wrong.
When Murlikant sees that wrestling in village matches won’t take him to the bigger scene, he enlists himself in the army. Having been inspired by Tara Singh, Murlikant begins his rigorous training and undergoes a physical transformation. We also get a glimpse of Kartik wearing a mouth guard and boxing gloves, and fighting in a ring surrounded by a large number of spectators.
As people keep teasing him, Chandu struggles with maintaining his relationship with his family while training for the Olympics. However, his indomitable spirit and faith in himself keeps him going.
The trailer ends by showing all the three phases of Murlikant’s life — as a boxer, wrestler and soldier.
“This is an unbelievable tale of a man who faced one adversary after another with an undying spirit. His unwavering zeal and never-give-up attitude led to create history. This is the story of Chandu Champion,” reads the description of the trailer dropped on YouTube.
Sharing the trailer on his Instagram account, Kartik wrote, “With immense pride and joy, sharing the trailer of my career’s toughest and most special film that too from my hometown Gwalior where i dreamt of becoming an actor.” He added, “#Chandu Champion 👊🏻 , the story of a man who refused to surrender. Hope it touches your heart, entertains and inspires you to achieve your goals just like India’s pride Mr Murlikant Petkar.”
Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and directed by Kabir Khan, Chandu Champion is slated to hit theatres on June 14.
