Kartik Aaryan: Chandu Champion pushed me to my limits – but I'd do it all over again

Bollywood actor dedicated 18 gruelling months to bootcamps to tell the remarkable true story of an army veteran-turned-Paralympian

Kartik Aaryan plays Murlikant Petkar, an Indian soldier injured in battle who became a decorated athlete. Shruti Jain for The National

Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan whips out his phone in the middle of our interview to show off his wallpaper. It's a picture of a shirtless Brad Pitt in the seminal 1999 film Fight Club.

For one and a half years, before shooting began for his latest film, Chandu Champion, the image would serve as an inspiration for Aaryan and his team of trainers.

"Kabir [Khan, director] and I decided early on that we need to build a body that resembled this one because it looks natural, it looks athletic and it is something which is built by sheer hard work," he tells The National.

And sheer hard work is what Aaryan, 33, has put into Chandu Champion. It's based on the inspiring story of Murlikant Petkar who, after being severely injured on the battlefield while serving in the Indian army, refuses to let his disability stop him and goes on to become a highly decorated Paralympian.

Aaryan, who made his Bollywood debut in the rom-com Pyaar Ka Punchnama in 2011, says that while he knew what the role would demand of him, both as an actor and physically, it really was Petkar's story that convinced him to do it.

"I was shocked and surprised to hear the story, because it was too unreal to be true," he says. "But I was also sad that very few people knew about him. I was really amazed by the fact that someone like this existed and I was excited that I'd get to portray him and tell his story."

Physically transforming for the role was nothing like anything he'd done before.

"It took me a while because I had gained a lot of weight in my last film, Freddy," he recalls. "But I was adamant about the fact that I wanted to do it the natural way. I didn't want to take any shortcuts so we had to be really patient.

"My diet was being controlled, my gym training, my boxing, swimming, everything was planned as if I was an athlete, like how Murlikant Petkar would have trained. It was just blinkers on go, go, go. I had no social life for a year."

Aaryan worked with a team of dieticians and trainers who specialise in various sports as Petkar was a professional boxer, swimmer and athlete, winning medals in multiple disciplines.

"And it's not just the sports," he adds. "I also trained in an army camp, where I'm carrying a guy on my shoulder one day and then running with big guns that I have to fight with. At the end of the day, you have to build that inner strength to be able to pull it off, and I think that makes it look more authentic on screen."

Acclaimed director Khan, known for blockbusters such as the record-breaking Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) and 2021's sports biopic 83, says he chose Aaryan for the role because he saw the fire in him.

"Karthik is a huge star, but until now he's been only doing romantic comedies," he told The National last month on the sidelines of CabSat, the media and entertainment exhibition where he was one of the speakers.

"I spend a lot of time with actors for the second casting. This is when I'm looking at their inherent personality, I'm looking at something they have that they're not showing yet. In Karthik, I saw this very endearing curious boy, which really suited my character because that's what Chandu Champion is about – a young boy with a burning ambition, with almost a sense of naivety about what he wants to achieve. People called him crazy, thinking he probably didn't understand the implications of what he was dreaming about.

"And that came through from Kartik. I was very clear to him what I needed from him and he committed himself. He took a year and a half away from all other work and transformed from 30 per cent body fat to 7 per cent body fat. I mean, that really shows commitment."

Having seen the first cut of the film, Aaryan says he'd do it all over again, despite all the hard work and sacrifices that went into the making of the film.

"Because it's that kind of story and you add the beauty of cinema to it and what you have is an amazing result, and that makes it all worth it," he says. He also hopes the film will be an inspiration for many viewers, not just Indians.

"This story is so universal that it will inspire a lot of people while entertaining them," he says. "It's not a sports biopic. Sports is just a background. But it's the journey of this guy who refuses to surrender and who never gave up."

Chandu Champion releases across the Middle East on Friday