Chandu Champion is Kartik Aaryan’s lowest post-pandemic opening; This is how much it made

Kartik Aaryan's big-screen release is Kabir Khan’s Chandu Champion. Based on the real-life story of India’s first paralympic gold medalist, Murlikant Petkar, Chandu Champion has earned praise from critics for its entertaining storytelling. However, the film has not been received well by audiences yet. The film made Rs 4.75 crore on Friday at the domestic box office, making it Kartik's lowest opening post-pandemic.

Chandu Champion makes Rs 4 crore on opening day

Kartik's last film that made less than Rs 4 crore on day 1 was Ashwini Dhir's 2017 comedy film Guest In London. The film was released a year before the release of Kartik’s superhit film Luv Ranjan's comedy film Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety in 2018, which opened at Rs 6.42 crore.

After the industry suffered severe box office losses post-pandemic, Kartik revived it with Anees Bazmee's 2022 horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, which opened at Rs 14.11 crore. Even Rohit Dhawan's 2023 action film Shehzada, which did not go down well with audiences, opened at Rs 6 crore. Kartik’s last film, Sameer Vidwans' 2023 romantic drama Satyaprem Ki Katha, earned Rs 8.25 crore on its opening day. Even Imtiaz Ali's 2020 romantic drama film Love Aaj Kal, which tanked at the box office, opened higher than all of these at Rs 12 crore.

Cast and crew of Chandu Champion

Helmed by Kartik Aaryan, Chandu Champion stars Kartik Aaryan, Bhuvan Arora, Yashpal Sharma, Rajpal Yadav, Aniruddh Dave, Vijay Raaz and Palak Lalwani in pivotal roles. The film hit theatres on June 15. Chandu Champion is the real-life story of India’s first paralympic gold medalist, Murlikant Petkar, who made the country proud at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Germany.

Speaking about Kartik’s dedication to his film, director Kabir Khan took to Instagram and penned a heartfelt note for the actor. Sharing a monochrome picture of the actor, the director said, “Chandu Nahi… Champion Hai Mai… The story of Chandu Champion is an incredibly inspiring true story but the journey that Kartik went through to become this champion is no less inspiring. I met him when he had put on weight for a role. He had 39 per cent body fat. I told him that he had to portray an international level multi-disciplinary sportsperson. He just smiled and said “ I will do it Sir”. A year and a half later with no use of steroids - something that he was adamant about - we took this photo on set. Body fat 7 per cent!! I’m proud of you @kartikaaryan."

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