“I have always believed that action for the sake of action never really works, then it’s an item number. Action works when the emotional drama and arc of the story moves forward with the action. The start of the action and the end of the action has to move and that in Chandu Champion is huge. It’s one of the most pivotal points in the plot,” says Kabir Khan.
When action is detached from sentiments,
it only serves as a promotional tool in the movie, much like an item number,
says filmmaker Kabir Khan, who has pulled off a pivotal eight-minute-long
continuous war sequence in his latest Chandu Champion. The much-talked about
shot highlights the ‘emotional drama’ of the story instead of showing action
for the sake of it, said Khan, adding that they shot it at 9,000 feet above sea
level in Kashmir’s Aru Valley.
After four days of rehearsal, the section
was filmed in one day which featured fighter jets, bomb blasts, and intense
combat scenes.
“I have always believed that action for
the sake of action never really works, then it’s an item number. Action works
when the emotional drama and arc of the story moves forward with the action. The
start of the action and the end of the action has to move and that in this film
(Chandu Champion) is huge. It’s one of the most pivotal points in the plot,”
the filmmaker said in an interview.
Inspired by the life of India’s first
Paralympic gold medalist Murlikant Petkar, Chandu Champion stars Kartik Aaryan
in the title role as a man across ages and phases, including being an Indian
Army soldier, a wrestler, a boxer, a 1965 war veteran and a swimmer. Khan,
known for directing Ek Tha Tiger, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, 83 and Kabul Express
earlier, said the underlying reason for shooting the eight-minute uncut
sequence was to stay close to his protagonist and experience the events unfold
through his eyes.
"We are so used to doing things in
films that if it's not happening, take two or take three or take four, and we
can keep achieving. Here, we had no take two. It was only one take and we had
to get it correct because a lot of big structures were going to crumble and
fall and you cannot set it up all over again.
"On top of that, we were shooting on
location in Kashmir at a very high altitude. Carrying people and equipment up
there and training them for several days before attempting the single take was
quite a task," the 55-year-old added.
"Chandu Champion" is Khan's
first directorial venture since "83", which released during the peak
of the third wave of the pandemic on December 24, 2021. Fronted by Ranveer
Singh, the film was based on the Indian men's cricket team's first World Cup
win.
"Covid changed the planet and our
lives. There was a moment in time where we were very unsure about how it was
all going to pan out. Strangely, my film ('83') was on the cusp of that.
Unfortunately, we released on the day the third wave sort of hit us in our
face," the filmmaker recalled.
Much like the film industry and exhibition
sector, Khan also took time to return to direction.
"Exhibition was hit badly, it took
them months to come back to normal. They couldn't come back to full capacity
for seven-eight months. A lot of projects had stalled, so there was a backlog
of actors' dates, projects being greenlit. We are facing it even now. If you
notice, there are not too many projects that are coming out from the industry.
It was a tumultuous time but it was a tumultuous time for the whole planet so I
should not be complaining," he added.
The Hyderabad-born filmmaker said he spent
all the time during the pandemic-induced lockdowns "diving deep" into
some stories, including "Chandu Champion".
"Everything has a silver lining and
the fact that I got the time to dive deep into a story like 'Chandu Champion',
plan it the way we could, prep it the way we could, so that when we finally
made it, it looked a certain way... You need time to make it look a certain
way. Here we are, (it's been) a long gap but (I have) come back with something
I'm very proud of and (something) I know will be a strong part of my
filmography for years to come," he said.
"Chandu Champion" is produced by
Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and Kabir Khan Films.
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