Champion (2003 film)

Champion
Champion
	The poster for the film Champion
Directed by	Rabi Kinagi
Written by	Rabi Kinagi
Produced by	Shree Venkatesh Films
Starring	Jeet; Srabanti Chatterjee
Cinematography	V. Probhakar
Edited by	Atish Chandra Sarkar
Music by	S P Venkatesh
Distributed by	Ashadeep Entertainment
Release date	6 June 2003;
Running time	166 mins
Country	India
Language	Bengali

Champion is a 2003 Bengali sports-drama film directed by Rabi Kinagi. The movie features Jeet and Srabanti Chatterjee.^[2] It is Jeet's third movie and Srabanti Chatterjee's debut as a heroine.^[3] The movie is a remake of the 1999 Telugu film Thammudu which was based on the 1992 Hindi movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar which in turn was inspired by the 1979 American movie Breaking Away.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Plot

The main theme of the film depicts how an irresponsible boy can be very responsible at a particular stage of life. In this film, we have got a glittering appearance of a new hero at Tollygunge named 'Jeet'. Raja is a college student who is forever committing mischief. He and his peers Bhola (Bhola Tamang), Dhonu (Rudranil Ghosh) & Kanu (Shuvashish Mukherjee) always stay on the top of the list of failures. Raja has an elder brother, Rohit (Siddhartha), who is the exact opposite of the infamous Raja. Rohit works at their father's cafe and is bright in his studies. Their father is fed up with the restless Raja. Even after repeated whackings from his father, the stubborn mule refuses to change. Raja's only support is his childhood friend Kavita who is secretly in love with him. But the flirtatious Raja finds solace in the spoilt brat Riya, the daughter of a millionaire. Raja saves Riya from the villainous millionaire student Ronny. But Riya dumps Raja & patches up with the affluent Rony. In the meanwhile, Rohit starts rigorously practicing for the upcoming kickboxing championship final against Rony. All hell breaks loose when Rohit is beaten by Rony & his mates. Rohit is hospitalized in a critical condition. Raja approaches Rohit's coach and begs him to train Raja. Thus a vigorous practice schedule begins. Raja, with support from Kavita gets himself ready for the match. In the match, he emerges victorious and dedicates the trophy to Rohit and then celebrates his love with Kavita.

With Jeet's journey in the Bengali film world taking a new-found momentum from this film after the huge success of 'Saathi', the industry got yet another great young actor in Siddhartha Banerjee, in the role of Rohit (Jeet's elder brother). Siddhartha, though a regular face in TV serial lead roles, was relatively a newcomer on the big screen. His screen presence was at par with that of Jeet, and acting was top-notch. This film also gifted the industry another budding actor, Sagnik (in the role of Rony), who was a great fit opposite the Jeet-Siddhartho duo.

Cast

Jeet as Raja
Srabanti Chatterjee as Kavita
Deepankar De as Raja's Father
Rajesh Sharma as Sports Coach
Siddhartha Banerjee as Rohit
Subhasish Mukherjee as Kanu, Raja's friend
Rudranil Ghosh as Dhonu
Bhola Tamang as Bhola
Sagnik Chatterjee as Ronny
Sandhita Chatterjee as Riya
Shyamal Dutta as Hemanta, Kavita's Father

Soundtrack

Singers are Kavita Krishnamurthy, Babul Supriyo, Mano, Jojo, Reema Mukherjee.

All lyrics are written by Gautam Sushmit; all music is composed by S. P. Venkatesh

Track listing
No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Mone Pore Koto Kotha"	Kavita Krishnamurthy	04:42
2.	"Travelling Soldier"	Ramana Gogula	03:38
3.	"Srimoti Ektu Darao"	Mano	05:43
4.	"Chokhe Lage Nesha"	Babul Supriyo, Kavita Krishnamurthy	05:20
5.	"Cholo Na Prem Kori"	Mano, Kavita Krishnamurthy	04:06
6.	"Kobe Je Amar Naam"	Babul Supriyo	03:02
7.	"Bondhu Bole Dako Jare (Male)"	Mano	05:03

Reception

Champion was a high critically and commercially successful. Mainly Jeet's comic timing and acting were praised.

Awards

Best Actor nomination (Jeet) Best Playback singer and Best Supporting Actor Nomination (Siddhartha Banerjee)

References

^ "Champion 2003 Movie". Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
^ Champion (2003), retrieved 28 October 2021
^ "Dream Pair : Heroine Hunt". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 18 June 2008. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
^ Dave, Kajol. "Copy cats". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
^ Srivastava, Abhishek (14 March 2018). "Aamir Khan's best films are inspired by Oscar nominees and winners – from Ghajini to Akele Hum Akele Tum". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
^ "We list down 7 Bollywood films inspired from Hollywood".

External links

Champion at IMDb

[1] "Champion 2003 Movie". Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2008.

[2] Champion (2003), retrieved 28 October 2021

[3] "Dream Pair : Heroine Hunt". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 18 June 2008. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2008.

[4] Dave, Kajol. "Copy cats". Filmfare. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

[5] Srivastava, Abhishek (14 March 2018). "Aamir Khan's best films are inspired by Oscar nominees and winners – from Ghajini to Akele Hum Akele Tum". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

[6] "We list down 7 Bollywood films inspired from Hollywood".

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