'Kartik Aaryan deserves National Award for Chandu Champion,' says a fan! Is the performance worthy of the same?

Kartik Aaryan was recently seen in Kabir Khan’s sports drama Chandu Champion, a film on the life of Murlikant Petkar. “A movie that really deserves lots of love and @kartikaaryan you are the most finest actor ever seen recreating the legendar biopic. truly you deserve national award Immense pleasure and the tears I can’t stop,” is what a fan wrote to the actor after watching the drama.

Aryan replied to the comment with folded hands. It’s hard to decide or decode which performance qualifies for a National Award since we have examples like Karisma Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, and Allu Arjun, who won the honour for performances that were anything but solemn or serious or as they say ‘intense’. Aaryan’s was a mix of all, combining intensity with humour.

Kartik Aaryan , who plays this complex character, embodies the role with the kind of eagerness and earnestness he has channelled in many of his previous outings. And the early naïveté of Petkar blends nicely with the actor’s own curiosity to discover the depth of his role. And the always fascinating Vijay Raaz, who has played comparable characters in Soorma and Shabaash Mithu, gets few moments to own. It’s high time he patented his deadpan approach to comic reliefs.

Petkar is a man who is truly godsent. After surviving a lynch mob, two wars, a terrorist attack, and a suicide attempt, he’s saved by miracles. His spirit to live comes after four failed attempts. After destiny fails him on the ground, he finds solace and success in water. These scenes play out with a certain sense of restrain. All this unfolds in 1972.

Just like Murlikant Petkar’s life, Chandu Champion is both ferocious and flawed. Sonali Kulkarni best elucidates the essence and existence of his journey- It’s a story impossible to believe, but important to tell.