Kabir Khan‘s Chandu Champion is Kartik Aaryan’s most important film to date. Kabir, who has earlier worked John Abraham, Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh, has his own reasons for selecting Kartik for this one. “I needed somebody who can look like a boy. I needed somebody who was 18 when he makes a statement, like in the trailer he says about Olympics, you feel like, what a stupid boy! Why is he talking like this? I needed that boyishness, you know. I think the most important reason why I signed Kartik was his ability to be physically versatile, and then everything began. I needed…. when you see the film, you realize that he achieved what is on paper.”
“Kartik Aaryan’s silences in Chandu Champion will speak louder than a monologue,” says Kabir Khan
He continued, “His greatest achievement is that he could make the transition from age 18 to 35. That naivete also. Yes, yes, the boyish naivete. Also, somebody who can look endearing, even when his conduct is questionable. So that was a very important quality for me. And then when you see him and, you know, with the sort of coming-of-age for the character, with the whole body transformation, because he really, in the film, has also lived two lives. If you see him in parts of the film, he’s all chubby and he’s like the way a village boy should be. That is the starting point of the film.”
Kabir revealed that Kartik bulked himself up for the role. “He actually put on all that weight. He wanted to put on some weight for Freddy, but I think he couldn’t stop eating and went on putting on weight. And when I went to him, he was that weighty. So, you know, what is funny is, what I really found amusing, is when we put out the first poster, half the world started saying, this is AI generated. Then when the trailer came out, they realized, oh, he actually has a body because in trailer you can’t do that amount of weight. You can’t fudge to that extent. I’m really happy about this. He has gone the extra mile. And whenever an actor goes that extra mile, you know, I really wish that he gets recognized and applauded for it,” said the filmmaker.
Although lately Kartik has acquired a reputation for being meddlesome Kabir gives the star-actor a clean chit. “I honestly really enjoyed working with him. You know, there were a lot of these little, you know, how people start saying, ‘oh, Kartik is a little finicky, or Kartik does this, or Kartik has to do that’. He just completely surrendered to his character and my film. He just went with the flow. He threw vanity out of the window. He never once came and saw, how’s my hair, how’s my… Because anyway, I cut his hair off. There was nothing to check. I gave him these loose chaddi banyans to wear. So, it was so refreshing to see an actor at the stage where he is, you know, where he’s a young guy. He’s known for his fine comedy. He is this superstar. He has never done something like this, even remotely something like this,” he said.
Kabir promises a total transformation of Kartik. “Yup, it’s a total changeover,” said the filmmaker. “But you know, I realize now, and-not that I do it with a design in mind-but I realize that every time I’ve taken an actor and in some way put him or her into a space which is really not theirs, people have really loved it. You know, it happened with me with John and Katrina in New York. Or, you know, Bajrangi, you know, Salman was pushed into that role and people really initially, everybody said, why are you doing it with Salman? And then when they saw the film, they really enjoyed it.”
Also Read: Kartik Aaryan starrer Chandu Champion gets widest overseas release with 70+ countries and more than 1000 locations
More Pages: Chandu Champion Box Office Collection
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