By
Sharada Iyer
How many people have heard the identify of Murlikant Petkar? He was the primary Indian to win a gold medal for India within the Paralympics held in Heidelberg, Germany in 1972! He received the gold medal in 50m freestyle swimming and set a brand new world report that 12 months. Not many are sadly conscious of his identify or his achievements and with the passage of time his inspiring story and the glory he dropped at India in some way grew to become relegated to the background. This movie is a touching tribute to this Titan of India!
That is the story of exceptional human grit and unbelievable perseverance and witnessing it unravel on display is certainly a uncommon expertise. After watching his heartwarming journey, the one query we’ll ask ourselves is how was it attainable for a human being to have had a lot relentless religion and dedication to beat all these seemingly insurmountable obstacles that future threw at him at each step in his life however he by no means gave up in his pursuit of fulfilling his childhood dream?
Born within the 12 months 1944 in a small village in Sangli, Maharashtra, Mumbai, younger Murli witnesses the return of an Olympic bronze medalist in his village and the sort of welcome, love and appreciation he will get from the villagers conjures up him to start out dreaming of changing into an Olympic champion sooner or later and produce house a gold medal for India. And thus begins the mindboggling journey of this younger boy to work in the direction of his purpose.
Everybody within the village makes enjoyable of him and his goals and calls him ‘Chandu’ (loser). The little boy is angered by this and will get into struggle together with his classmates however his elder brother who stands by him and believes in him advises him to discover a strategy to accomplish what he goals to get and never simply get offended. He joins the village wrestling ‘akhada’ and although he’s not taken severely and given solely odd jobs to carry out, he decides he’ll turn into a wrestler and compete within the video games.
As is the case with many of the households, the daddy is lifeless in opposition to his goals and even slaps him for not solely failing in his exams but in addition for his sheer audacity to harbor such far-fetched ambitions. Not one to simply quit, he quickly turns into the village champion however circumstances flip in opposition to him and he’s compelled to run away from his village to avoid wasting his life in any other case he would have been killed.
Within the prepare he meets Garnail Singh, who turns into his shut buddy and advises him to hitch the Military the place he could be chosen and get an opportunity to play within the Providers sports activities meet. Right here he meets his coach Tiger Ali who turns into his mentor and begins coaching him in boxing. For some time all the pieces goes effective however resulting from some quirk of destiny he will get distracted from his purpose for some time, and doesn’t win the finals held in Tokyo and there may be great disappointment. Now Tiger Ali refuses to be his coach and provides him a dressing down for taking the championships so calmly.
There may be a lot extra to occur in his life which might change his future without end. The Indo-Pak struggle of 1965 ends in him getting 9 bullets in his physique throughout a horrific aerial encounter by the enemy on their camp. One of many bullets will get lodged in his backbone rendering him paraplegic. Shattered and depressed he feels his very soul has been sucked out of him.
He manages to seek out his braveness again and thru a collection of exceptional incidents, he’s chosen to symbolize India within the Paralympic video games being held in Munich, Germany. However as soon as once more catastrophe strikes within the type of a terror assault resulting from which the video games are cancelled. The venue is then modified and eventually, on the Summer time Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany, he fulfills his childhood dream of profitable a gold medal for India!
From Wrestling to Boxing to Swimming, the game he selected could have modified to swimsuit the circumstances in his life, however this by no means distracted him from his relentless ardour of profitable. Why did he should flee the village to avoid wasting his life? What distracted him from profitable within the wrestling finals in Tokyo? What occurred when he discovered that he can be a paraplegic for the remainder of his life? What made him select swimming and the way did he get again his braveness? Discover out all these particulars whereas watching this unimaginable man’s journey.
The director and the cinematographer get credit score for the brilliantly shot wrestling, boxing, and swimming championship scenes. As viewers we will really feel the palpable pleasure and thrill as we turn into spectators watching these authentically captured moments. There’s a twist at each step in his life and nothing comes straightforward for him.
Within the function of Murlikant Petkar, Karthik Aryan does full justice in bringing to life this champion’s saga clinching all of the bodily and emotional elements. He aces all of the struggle sequences whether or not wrestling or boxing or swimming and has given his 100% to the function. Within the emotional scenes additionally, he is excellent. Vijay Raaz is faultless within the function of the coach Tiger Ali, and his brilliance shines via in each scene.
Bhuvan Arora performs Garnail Singh- Karthik Aryan’s greatest buddy, and his display presence is endearing. He breathes a lot life into his character. Each the kid artiste and the grownup actor who play Murli’s elder brother are good. The actors enjoying Karthik’s mother and father are forged nicely. The kid actor Ayan Khan who performed younger Chandu Champion can also be good. Actors Brijendra Kala and Rajpal Yadav are good of their small roles. Among the many songs ‘Sarphira…’ written by Kausar Munir stands out.
On the finish it was heartening to see the viewers within the cinema corridor clapping for this brave soul particularly within the scene when the real-life Murlikant Petkar is proven receiving Padma Shri from the President of India.
For endeavor the Herculean process of bringing to life this forgotten hero’s untold story on celluloid, director Kabir Khan and his crew deserve particular credit score. The movie is sure to maneuver the viewers in each which approach. Meticulously researched, painstakingly crafted, and fantastically directed, the movie is each emotionally and mentally uplifting, and is a lesson on human resilience that must be seen by every body.
