CHANDU Winner: The extraordinary tale of India’s initial Paralympic gold medalist

By

Sharada Iyer

How quite a few of us have listened to the title of Murlikant Petkar? He was the to start with Indian to win a gold medal for India in the Paralympics held in Heidelberg, Germany in 1972! He received the gold medal in 50m freestyle swimming and set a new environment report that yr. Not a lot of are regrettably knowledgeable of his identify or his achievements and with the passage of time his inspiring tale and the glory he brought to India by some means turned relegated to the background. This film is a touching tribute to this Titan of India!

This is the story of extraordinary human grit and unbelievable perseverance and witnessing it unravel on screen is certainly a unusual experience. After observing his heartwarming journey, the 1 issue we will question ourselves is how was it possible for a human remaining to have experienced so much relentless faith and dedication to triumph over all all those seemingly insurmountable road blocks that future threw at him at each individual action in his life but he in no way gave up in his pursuit of satisfying his childhood aspiration?

Born in the calendar year 1944 in a compact village in Sangli, Maharashtra, Mumbai, youthful Murli witnesses the return of an Olympic bronze medalist in his village and the variety of welcome, love and appreciation he receives from the villagers evokes him to start out dreaming of getting to be an Olympic champion one particular working day and convey property a gold medal for India. And hence begins the mindboggling journey of this young boy to function towards his intention.

Absolutely everyone in the village helps make entertaining of him and his desires and phone calls him ‘Chandu’ (loser). The minimal boy is angered by this and gets into combat with his classmates but his elder brother who stands by him and believes in him advises him to locate a way to execute what he aims to get and not just get angry. He joins the village wrestling ‘akhada’ and nevertheless he is not taken very seriously and presented only odd careers to complete, he decides he will develop into a wrestler and contend in the online games.

As is the situation with most of the people, the father is dead towards his dreams and even slaps him for not only failing in his exams but also for his sheer audacity to harbor these kinds of considerably-fetched ambitions. Not one particular to quickly give up, he soon gets the village champion but instances transform versus him and he is forced to operate away from his village to save his existence usually he would have been killed.

In the prepare he meets Garnail Singh, who turns into his near mate and advises him to be a part of the Army in which he can be chosen and get a prospect to perform in the Providers athletics meet. Right here he meets his coach Tiger Ali who will become his mentor and begins training him in boxing. For a although anything is heading fantastic but thanks to some quirk of destiny he receives distracted from his aim for a whilst, and does not gain the finals held in Tokyo and there is incredible disappointment. Now Tiger Ali refuses to be his mentor and gives him a dressing down for having the championships so frivolously.

There is so a lot additional to materialize in his everyday living which would alter his future endlessly. The Indo-Pak war of 1965 outcomes in him receiving 9 bullets in his overall body throughout a horrific aerial come upon by the enemy on their camp. One particular of the bullets gets lodged in his spine rendering him paraplegic. Shattered and depressed he feels his pretty soul has been sucked out of him.

He manages to uncover his braveness back again and by way of a series of outstanding incidents, he is selected to symbolize India in the Paralympic games being held in Munich, Germany. But at the time again catastrophe strikes in the variety of a terror assault due to which the game titles are cancelled. The venue is then changed and last but not least, at the Summer season Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany, he fulfills his childhood desire of successful a gold medal for India!

From Wrestling to Boxing to Swimming, the activity he chose may have adjusted to match the circumstances in his lifestyle, but this never distracted him from his relentless passion of profitable. Why did he have to flee the village to help save his existence? What distracted him from profitable in the wrestling finals in Tokyo? What transpired when he identified out that he would be a paraplegic for the rest of his lifestyle? What manufactured him decide on swimming and how did he get back again his braveness? Discover out all these details although observing this amazing man’s journey.

The director and the cinematographer get credit score for the brilliantly shot wrestling, boxing, and swimming championship scenes. As viewers we can feel the palpable excitement and thrill as we turn into spectators watching these authentically captured moments. There is a twist at just about every phase in his life and practically nothing arrives simple for him.

In the function of Murlikant Petkar, Karthik Aryan does whole justice in bringing to everyday living this champion’s saga clinching all the actual physical and emotional elements. He aces all the combat sequences whether wrestling or boxing or swimming and has supplied his 100% to the function. In the emotional scenes also, he is really superior. Vijay Raaz is faultless in the part of the mentor Tiger Ali, and his brilliance shines through in just about every scene.

Bhuvan Arora performs Garnail Singh- Karthik Aryan’s very best pal, and his display screen existence is endearing.  He breathes so much life into his character. Both of those the youngster artiste and the adult actor who play Murli’s elder brother are great. The actors participating in Karthik’s mother and father are forged very well. The boy or girl actor Ayan Khan who performed young Chandu Champion is also brilliant. Actors Brijendra Kala and Rajpal Yadav are great in their tiny roles. Among the songs ‘Sarphira…’ written by Kausar Munir stands out.

At the conclude it was heartening to see the audience in the cinema corridor clapping for this brave soul especially in the scene when the real-lifestyle Murlikant Petkar is demonstrated obtaining Padma Shri from the President of India.

For enterprise the Herculean task of bringing to life this forgotten hero’s untold story on celluloid, director Kabir Khan and his staff deserve particular credit rating. The movie is certain to transfer the viewers in each individual which way.  Meticulously researched, painstakingly crafted, and superbly directed, the film is each emotionally and mentally uplifting, and is a lesson on human resilience that needs to be found by one and all.