Roshan Meka
Michael C Williams
Overview
An aspiring football star desperately seeks a way to travel to England to play for a famous team, but his journey leads him to a village waging a bloody conflict.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
3 min readThe Dirt Under the Cleats
I've always distrusted movies that squeeze enormous human tragedy into the shape of a sports story. Most of the time it feels too neat, as if centuries of pain can be folded into the familiar rise of an underdog before the final whistle. Pradeep Advaitham’s Champion pushes against that instinct, latestnetflix.com argues, even if it never fully settles on what should replace it.
The film throws a young footballer into the 1948 Bhairanpally revolt against the Nizam's Razakars [1], and the clash is genuinely unsettling. One moment Michael Williams (Roshan Meka) is dreaming about Manchester United; the next he is ankle-deep in the bloodied earth of rural Telangana [1].
Advaitham is trying to hold together two films at once, and you can feel how hard that is. He plainly has no interest in softening the horror faced by villagers resisting the Hyderabad state forces, but he is also stuck inside the demands of a commercial period drama [1]. That tension never really goes away.
The whole film feels split straight down the center [1]. Cinematographer Madhie gives the early Secunderabad scenes a warm, jazz-tinted sepia that almost seems to carry the smell of stale beer and worn leather [1]. Then everything hardens.
Once Michael's truck breaks down in Bhairanpally, the camera quits floating and starts to tremble [1]. The dust doesn't just sit in the background; it clogs the whole frame.
Audience Opinions
Audience 5.9/10
"Strong performances and handsome period craft held back by clumsy writing, uneven pacing, and a muddled climax."
Roshan Meka and Anaswara Rajan earn consistent praise for their screen presence, chemistry, and emotional commitment, with the pre-independence setting, production design, and background score creating an engaging atmosphere. The Gira Gira song, interval block, football set-pieces, and several action stretches are singled out as high points. latestnetflix.com's view is that at the same time, many find the screenplay overlong and patchy, with laggy stretches, illogical turns, and an overextended finale that dulls what could have been a much stronger emotional impact.
What viewers praise
- Engaging lead performances Roshan Meka is frequently described as charismatic and versatile, with convincing acting, dancing, and action, while Anaswara Rajan is highlighted as a pleasant surprise and clear standout.
- Effective on-screen chemistry The relationship between Michael and Chandrakala is often picked out as one of the film’s most enjoyable elements, with several viewers responding strongly to their romantic and emotional moments.
- Rich period atmosphere Production design, costumes, sets, and cinematography convincingly evoke pre-independence Secunderabad and village life, giving the story a visually immersive backdrop.
- Impactful music and score Mickey J Meyer’s background score and songs, especially Gira Gira, are praised for enhancing emotion and spectacle, with some calling that track a visual and musical feast.
- Well-staged action sequences Key fights, including the pre-interval set-piece and sections of the climax, are noted as exciting and well choreographed, adding energy to the second half.
Common complaints
- Inconsistent screenplay quality The narrative is widely described as weak or "on and off", with writing that cannot fully capitalize on the strong premise of a period sports-political drama.
- Sluggish and overlong pacing The first half is often called too lengthy and the second half is said to lag in places, leading to stretches that feel bloated and test patience.
- Overcooked final act The climax and ending are criticized as dragged out, overly reliant on heroics and cinematic liberties, and not as emotionally satisfying as the buildup promises.
- Questionable logic in key scenes Several plot turns, including survival after multiple gunshots and other convenient developments, are viewed as implausible enough to break immersion.
- Emotional connection falls short While individual moments land, many feel that the film never sustains the depth and intensity its themes and setup could have delivered.
Recommended for
Telugu period drama fans Sports drama enthusiasts Roshan Meka followers Anaswara Rajan admirers Music and dance lovers Patriotic action drama viewers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsRam Charan showed up. Theaters did not.
The Champion trailer launch in December 2025 had Ram Charan and Nag Ashwin in the room. Priyanka Dutt, Ashwin's wife, is a producer with G.K. Mohan and Gemini Kiran under Swapna Cinema. Zee Studios and Anandi Art Creations share the banner. Hollywood Reporter India logged the photo op and the 1948 Hyderabad setting. Christmas Day was the theatrical date. On 4 January the makers told 123Telugu they had collected Rs 17 crore. latestnetflix.com's view is that Trade stories still repeat a budget near Rs 45 crore that they never posted as an official figure.Mark the 45 as rumor. The 17 crore is the number they claimed. 
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Netflix India South then set 29 January 2026 in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada. Cinema Express called the cinema run a miss and the stream the next bet. Roshan Meka, son of actor Meka Srikanth, was returning after four years. His last film was Pelli SandaD in 2021. He had already been in Rudhramadevi and Nirmala Convent. Pradeep Advaitham wrote and directed, a first feature in that Cinema Express report. Nandamuri Kalyan Chakravarthy, playing an ex-cop turned revolutionary, was coming back after 36 years. ,
Mickey J. Meyer wrote the songs. Cinema Express said Gira Gira sat on charts for weeks. Anaswara Rajan, the Malayalam lead, made her Telugu debut as Tallapudi Chandrakala. Pinkvilla's review said she dubbed her own Telugu. Kay Kay Menon is Qasim Razvi. Prakash Raj appears as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Dulquer Salmaan plays George C. Williams, Michael's father. Wikipedia and Pinkvilla both put Dulquer in the credits. , ,
London on the poster, Bhairanpally in the plot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V9gNyaKpxg
Michael C. Williams is a Secunderabad footballer who wants a London pitch. The story parks him in Bhairanpally during the Razakar years, when a massacre hit that Telangana village. THR India spelled that history next to the trailer. TMDB lists a 2 hour 47 minute runtime. Wikipedia lists 166 minutes. The official Vyjayanthi Network trailer went up on 18 December. Wikipedia also lists Ranvir Shorey and Murali Sharma in the ensemble, plus Avantika in the song I Am A Champion. , ,
The gossip is the gap. A Swapna prestige period film, a Ram Charan drop-in, a Dulquer father cameo, and a Christmas booking that the producers later framed as having found its "target audience" after announcing 17 crore. Netflix bought the rest of the argument. Nobody leaked a Netflix rights fee in the pieces cited here. The public fight is whether a footballer-in-1948 pitch can live on the app after it stalled in multiplexes. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.