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 document 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 by some means 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 potential for a human being to have had a lot relentless religion and willpower 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 type of welcome, love and appreciation he will get from the villagers evokes him to begin dreaming of changing into an Olympic champion sooner or later and produce residence a gold medal for India. And thus begins the mindboggling journey of this younger boy to work in the direction of his aim.
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 battle together with his classmates however his elder brother who stands by him and believes in him advises him to discover a method to accomplish what he goals to get and never simply get offended. He joins the village wrestling ‘akhada’ and although he isn’t taken severely and given solely odd jobs to carry out, he decides he’ll change into a wrestler and compete within the video games.
As is the case with many of the households, the daddy is useless in opposition to his goals and even slaps him for not solely failing in his exams but additionally for his sheer audacity to harbor such far-fetched ambitions. Not one to simply hand over, he quickly turns into the village champion however circumstances flip in opposition to him and he’s pressured to run away from his village to save lots of his life in any other case he would have been killed.
Within the prepare he meets Garnail Singh, who turns into his shut good friend and advises him to hitch the Military the place he will be chosen and get an opportunity to play within the Companies 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 every part goes high quality however resulting from some quirk of destiny he will get distracted from his aim for some time, and doesn’t win the finals held in Tokyo and there may be large disappointment. Now Tiger Ali refuses to be his coach and offers him a dressing down for taking the championships so frivolously.
There may be a lot extra to occur in his life which might change his future ceaselessly. The Indo-Pak battle of 1965 leads to 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 signify 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 at last, on the Summer time Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany, he fulfills his childhood dream of successful a gold medal for India!
From Wrestling to Boxing to Swimming, the game he selected could have modified to go well with the circumstances in his life, however this by no means distracted him from his relentless ardour of successful. Why did he must flee the village to save lots of his life? What distracted him from successful within the wrestling finals in Tokyo? What occurred when he came upon that he could 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 unbelievable man’s journey.
The director and the cinematographer get credit score for the brilliantly shot wrestling, boxing, and swimming championship scenes. As viewers we are able to really feel the palpable pleasure and thrill as we change into spectators watching these authentically captured moments. There’s a twist at each step in his life and nothing comes simple 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 features. He aces all of the battle sequences whether or not wresting or boxing or swimming and has given his 100% to the function. Within the emotional scenes additionally, he is superb. Vijay Raaz is faultless within the function of the coach Tiger Ali, and his brilliance shines by in each scene.
Bhuvan Arora performs Garnail Singh- Karthik Aryan’s greatest good friend, 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 taking part in Karthik’s mother and father are solid properly. The kid actor Ayan Khan who performed younger Chandu Champion can be sensible. 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 means. Meticulously researched, painstakingly crafted, and beautifully directed, the movie is each emotionally and mentally uplifting, and is a lesson on human resilience that must be seen by every body.
