777 Charlie Movie Review

777 Story Line

Dharma (Rakshit Shetty), a loner with antisocial tendencies, finds his life better when a vivacious dog enters it.

777 Charlie Review

An old proverb says, "If you want someone to love you forever, buy a dog, feed it, and keep it around."Kiranraj K's film, written and directed by him, is a poignant story about the human-dog relationship.

Dharma (Rakshit Shetty) is an outcast who feels his actions are always correct. "How others perceive me isn't right," he says early in the film in a voiceover. You can't blame the others; after all, he doesn't care about the colony or his neighbours and is mostly grouchy and unkempt. His flat is always a shambles, with cigarette butts and spirits bottles strewn about. He is one of the greatest workers at the plant where he works ? he doesn't take a single day off ? and prefers to remain to himself, drawing the ire of most of his coworkers.

Simply described, he is an outcast with no friends, family, or ties. Until a Labrador puppy, whom he subsequently names Charlie after Charlie Chaplin, enters his life. And then Dharma's life turns upside down.

This is primarily a film about man-animal relationships, but it is also a trip documentary and a song. When filmmaker Kiranraj isn't showing you stunning places (cinematography by Arvind S Kashyap) during Dharma's life-changing road journey, he's making you invested in the plot with wonderful small melodies scattered throughout the script, like Charlie's infrequent barks.

The dubbed Tamil version of the film (which is largely a Kannada film with several well-known Kannada film industry faces) was seen by this writer, yet the directors appear to have made it feel rather original. The sign boards are entirely from Chennai (the protagonist resides in the Ambattur area), and the actors do a wonderful job with the lip sync.

Languages aren't an issue in this video because the subject is all about heart. In a nutshell, the picture may be defined as a "relationship between a man and a dog," but filmmaker Kiranraj ensures that he packs in enough emotion and levity to keep us entertained throughout. The English film The Dog Problem (2006) attempted something similar, but 777 Charlie had a considerably higher emotional component.

If the first half focuses on the relationship's development, the second half contains some poignant moments that will leave you speechless. There's a fantastic passage set in the backdrop of a dog show here that's the equivalent of a final ball six in a cricket match - director Kiranraj scores high, tugging at the heartstrings.

The fact that he has an appropriate cast bringing his concept to life is a huge plus. Rakshit Shetty plays the protagonist perfectly, with all the correct reactions, whether he's annoyed by an intrusion in his life or afterwards, when his outlook on life changes. Charlie, the film's central character, is a joy to watch on the big screen. Adrika (played by Sharvari) is a tiny girl who receives a well-written role. Even characters with short screen time, such as Raj B Shetty as the vet, Sangeetha Sringeri as an animal rights activist, Bobby Simha as a dog lover, and Danish Sait as a reporter, have an impact on the events.

The only complaint was the film's somewhat long runtime (crammed with far too many songs) and its humour, which is luckily limited. The usage of "dog jokes" in an animal film (for example, a mother tells her daughter: "unakku nai venuma? The song (Veetuku va, appa irukanga) stands out. Apart from that, there's a lot to enjoy about this film.