Kabir Khan talks about box office debacles of Ranveer Singh’s ’83’ and Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Chandu Champion: ‘There have been repeat viewings on OTT’ | Hindi Movie News – Times of India

Kabir Khan’s recent directorial venture ‘Chandu Champion‘, starring Kartik Aaryan, hit theaters on June 14. Despite high expectations, the biographical drama struggled to make an impact at the box office.
Recently, the filmmaker spoke about the movie’s underwhelming performance, emphasizing that what truly matters to him is how well the film is remembered by audiences.
In a chat with Mid-day, Kabir acknowledged that while box office numbers are important to him, they don’t hold as much value as the audience’s love for a film. He remarked that any filmmaker claiming not to care about box office figures is being untruthful, as they do matter. However, Khan emphasized that box office success is merely one way to evaluate a movie’s impact.

Khan stressed that the true measure of a film’s success is how well it is remembered and discussed over time. He pointed out that both ‘Chandu Champion’ and his earlier film ’83’ have seen repeated viewings on OTT platforms, which he believes reflects the lasting legacy and impact of a movie. ‘With Chandu Champion now and 83 [2021] earlier, there have been repeat viewings on OTT, ‘ he emphasized.
Kabir further illustrated his perspective by referencing his debut film ‘Kabul Express’, which he acknowledged as his least successful work. Despite this, he expressed satisfaction that, even after 18 years, people still approach him to share how much they loved the film. He concluded that there are various ways to measure how deeply a movie connects with its audience.

He also discussed the challenges of making ‘Chandu Champion’, noting the significant physical transformation Kartik Aaryan underwent for the role. He pointed out that it was a major feat for Aaryan to reduce his body fat from 39% to 7%. Khan revealed that the actor spent a year and a half training in boxing to prepare for fighting real boxers in the film.
‘Chandu Champion’ tells the life story of India’s first Paralympics champion, Murlikant Petkar. Recently, Kartik Aaryan and Kabir Khan attended the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) to screen the movie.