Kartik Aaryan’s life became ‘robotic, monotonous’ when transforming for ‘Chandu Champion’

New Delhi: Actor Kartik Aaryan, who has undergone a major transformation to play India’s first Paralympics gold medallist Murlikant Petkar in the upcoming sports drama ‘Chandu Champion’, shared that the entire process was terrible, and his life became robotic and monotonous.

For Kartik, transforming physically for Kabir Khan’s directorial biopic took a lot of time.

In a conversation with IANS, Kartik talked about why he chose this as his first biopic, whether the transformation was exhausting, and more.

The actor, who is known for his work in ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’, said, “In terms of physicality, it took a lot of time. At that time, I did ‘Freddy’ and started the shoot of ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’, so there was no requirement of physicality there. So it was my habit– I was a big foodie, I was eating anything and everything without any restrictions.”

“But the character of Sattu from ‘Satyaprem Ki Katha’ was different from playing a character like Murlikant sir, as it is a real-life story — his achievements, goals, dreams. This was very new for me. Second was dialect. He had Marathi dialect, along with his thought process. For all these things, Kabir sir helped me as he had spent time with Murli sir,” said Kartik.

Kartik shared that he used to just blindly follow Kabir Khan. “I followed him like a student. And I would like to say that it is ‘before Chandu’ and ‘after Chandu’ for me. It’s so much of a change that this film has brought into me and in my life,” he said.

Whether the transformation took a toll on him mentally, Kartik shared, “This entire process was terrible in a way. As I said I am a big foodie, so for me, not to have food–mujhe jab tak roti, rice, khane ke baad meetha.. ye saari cheezein chahiye… mere saare shauk sab hata diye gaye the. My sleeping pattern was so bad before this. So when we started this, I had to get a proper eight hours of deep sleep.”

He continued saying, “I started counting calories, burning calories, so there was an automatic shift… my life became robotic and monotonous. Because I used to eat the same food — the meal that was decided. For 1.5 to 2 years, I used to have soup at night and sleep and had no social life. I used to go to my home, gym, swimming pool, and then return to my home.”

“I used to attend workshops, in which there were reading sessions, so apart from this for the past two years, I have not done anything else in my life apart from living this monotonous life. It transformed my life, and changed a lot of things, in terms of not just physicality, but thought processes also. Now, I am used to a lot of things that I have been following. And that lifestyle is going to stay with me,” said Kartik.

Why did you choose Petkar’s story as your first biopic?

Kartik said, “I think the story chose me. I sadly and genuinely did not know about this story. And I think many don’t know the real story of Murlikant Petkar. When I heard it for the first time, I thought it was unreal.”

“When Kabir sir narrated the story, my first reaction was — is this real or fictional? And it was all facts. For me, it was surprising that such achievements of a man, such a great story should be known to every kid. So I was just in it. I took it as a responsibility too,” said the ‘Shehzada’ fame actor.

Kartik shared that the tagline of the movie “The Man Who Refused to Surrender” automatically increased his curiosity to know more about him.

“It became a multi-genre film, as for me there was a lot of suspense about what is going to happen next. Because when you usually do a movie or a biopic, you know the story — the high and low points of the person. But here this is a story about a person that most people don’t know about. So more than me choosing a story, the story chose me,” added Kartik.

‘Chandu Champion’ is jointly produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Kabir Khan. The film will be released in theatres on June 14.

–IANS