Kartik Aaryan's impressive physical transformation for his upcoming film Chandu Champion, has been the talk of the town ever since the film's trailer released last month. Now, in an exclusive chat with India Today, the film's director, Kabir Khan, spoke about what went behind the actor's massive transformation and how it changed his sleep pattern. Kabir Khan said, "On a minute-to-minute basis, because it was not an easy transformation. It was not an easy journey to undertake. I had to put in a huge team of physical trainers, physiotherapists, dietitians, boxing coaches, swimming coaches, and wrestling coaches. It was a massive team. And literally, for 1.5 years, Karthik has lived the life of an athlete. He would wake up early in the morning, go to the gym, have his food, and then go for a boxing session. Then come back and sleep. We even had to monitor his sleep."
Kabir Khan also spoke about how Kartik, who was an insomniac before, now sleeps for eight hours all due to Chandu Champion. "When I met him, he was an insomniac and used to sleep for four hours. I told Kartik 'For this journey, if you don't sleep for eight hours minimum, there's no point in undertaking this journey.' He (Kartik) says, ‘For this character, my life became different'. Today he's somebody who sleeps for eight hours, looks at everything he eats, has a very fit lifestyle."
Kartik Aaryan shared his film's trailer on Instagram. Captioning the post on Instagram, Kartik Aaryan wrote, "With immense pride and joy, sharing the trailer of my career's toughest and most special film that too from my hometown Gwalior, where I dreamt of becoming an actor, Chandu Champion, the story of a man who refused to surrender. Hope it touches your heart, entertains and inspires you to achieve your goals just like India's pride, Mr Murlikant Petkar."
Watch the trailer below:
Directed by Kabir Khan, Chandu Champion narrates the story of a sportsman's resilience and determination. Kartik Aaryan steps into the role of Chandu. The film is based on the life of Murlikant Petkar, India's first Paralympic gold medalist in freestyle swimming.