With Olympic Games going on, there couldn’t have been a better time for ‘Chandu Champion’ to make its OTT debut on Amazon Prime Video. Kartik Aaryan starrer and Kabir Khan directorial ’Chandu Champion’ was a highly anticipated film before its release but somehow it did not work as expected at the box office.
Interestingly those who watched the film were all praises for it. Then what was the reason for such detachment between public response and box office numbers? In fact the film had no major clash to face in theatres, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ released two weeks after, so it cannot be the one to pull away the audience. And as far as ‘Munjya’ is concerned, it released a week before and could not have caused such an impact on a film with such big credentials. Then what was it?
Public reaction can never be predicted with utmost certainty because usually it’s not one or two but a mix of factors that causes it. And what exactly those causes are isn’t easy to ascertain either. But what could have been the reason for ‘Chandu Champion’s’ underwhelming performance is the change in viewership pattern that has been happening gradually for a long period of time.
People are now going to theatres either for tentpole films like ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ or for films with impressive word of mouth like that for ‘Munjya’. Well, ’Chandu Champion’ didn’t fall in the former category and for the latter category the initial response was pretty dull for the film subsequently hampering its collection.
It was only much later that people started applauding ‘Chandu Champion’ for Kartik Aaryan’s amazing transformation and performance, Kabir Khan’s deft direction, an immersive screenplay, and powerful feel-good story.
Now that ‘Chandu Champion’ is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, will the film get what it deserved and become a sleeper hit that will be loved for time to come? That’s a question for another day, till then go catch the biographical sports drama on Prime Video and witness the soul stirring story of a brilliant man.