India’s first Paralympic gold medalist Murlikant Petkar was brought to tears during the first screening of his biopic Chandu Champion starring Kartik Aaryan, shows a video shared by the actor on Instagram on Wednesday.
“First screening of Chandu Champion with the Man himself An evening filled with honour, joy and tears with the real champion. The Man who refused to surrender Mr Murlikant Petkar,” wrote Kartik alongside a video featuring him, Petkar and director Kabir Khan.
The video captures the audience applauding the cast and crew of the film at the end of its screening. The footage concludes with Petkar greeting the viewers inside the theatre.
Slated to arrive in cinemas on June 14, Chandu Champion is presented by Kabir and Sajid Nadidwala. It revolves around the life and struggles of Petkar, who was originally a boxer.
Petkar served in the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) in the Indian Army. However, he was disabled during the 1965 war against Pakistan, sustaining severe bullet wounds, which led him to transition to swimming and other sports. He participated in table tennis at the 1968 Summer Paralympics and secured four medals in swimming.
On Saturday, Kartik revealed that he went from 39 per cent body fat to seven per cent body fat over the course of his one-and-a-half-year fitness journey for the upcoming sports biopic.
Kartik is also set to star in Anees Bazmee’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 alongside Triptii Dimri and Vidya Balan.
