 "Murlikant Petkar, paralympic gold medalist, who inspired Chandu Champion")
Director Kabir Khan is ready with his biographical sports drama movie ‘Chandu Champion’ featuring Kartik Aaryan in the titular role. Khan has a deep affection for sports drama movies and he earlier directed movies like '83' and 'Sultan'.
The movie is inspired by the real-life story of the paralympic gold medalist, Murlikant Petkar, who has been forgotten despite his exemplary achievements in sports. When Kabir first came to know about Petkar's accomplishments, it was hard for him to believe that such a man existed in real life. Thereafter, he started researching about Petkar.
When Khan first met Petkar, he knew he would bring this untold story to the big screen. Recently, Kabir Khan interacted with Indianexpress.com, where he shared his experience of meeting with India's first paralympic gold medalist. He said it all became about capturing this man's and the athlete's soul. Kabir spent a lot of time with him. He told Petkar, ‘Aapko jo yaad aaraha hai bas bolte jayiye’ (Just keep talking to me about whatever comes to your mind). There was no chronology and it seems like taking a man 60 years back in his life.
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Who is Murlikant Petkar?
He was born in the Peth Islampur region of Sangli, Maharashtra on November 1, 1944. When Murlikant Petkar was in the Indian Army, he was a tradesman known as Jawan in the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME). While in EME, Secunderabad, he fought as a boxer.
During the 1965 war with Pakistan, he suffered nine bullet wounds. However, he opted not to give up once his injuries healed and began participating in swimming and other sports again.
It was a historic moment when he became India's first Paralympic gold medalist. He created a world record with a time of 37.33 seconds in a 50-meter freestyle swimming event. His skills extended beyond swimming; played a variety of sports, like slalom, javelin, and precision javelin throw. It's incredible that Petkar not only completed but also reached the finals in all of these sports.
He was honoured with the Padma Shri award in 2018 which is a tribute to his lasting impact on Indian sports history and the lasting legacy he left behind. He also started working for Telco in Pune in his late 50s.
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More about Chandu Champion
Chandu Champion is an upcoming Hindi-language sports drama movie written and directed by Kabir Khan and it was produced under the banner of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. Chandu Champion features Kartik Aaryan as Murlikant Petkar, Bhuvan Arora, Yashpal Sharma, Rajpal Yadav, and Aniruddh Dave in lead roles.
Kabir Khan announced the movie in July 2022 and the filming began on July 12, 2023, with a ceremonial puja in London. The second schedule of the movie was in Kashmir which started on September 24, 2023. The shooting concluded on January 31, 2024. The running time of the movie is 143 minutes and it will hit theatres on June 14, 2024.