Kiranraj K’s Kannada film, which has been dubbed into Hindi, stars Rakshit Shetty.
Find someone to see you the way Charlie sees you. When Charlie first sees Dharma sinking into the haze, manly with his beard and two-pronged attitude, she is shocked. His gaze does not shift from the object of his attention, nor does the rest of his body move. If she could speak, she could break into the song.
That Charlie is a dog soon becomes accidental. The canine performance in Kiranraj K’s Kannada film 777 Charlie, about the bond between a human and his pet, is one of the most memorable in recent memory. Charlie, played for the most part by the Labrador retriever of the same name, is the film’s lame-eyed and damp-nosed soul, who conveys the same feelings as their human counterparts.
Kannada actor-director Rakshit Shetty is Dharma, a serious bachelor whose heart is as empty as his house filled with beer bottles and the remains of yesterday’s idlis. Dharma hates everyone, but above all, Dharma is not the favorite uncle of his residential colony.
With expressive brown peepers and a thumping tail comes redemption. Forced to make Charlie sit on the dog, Dharma develops an unbreakable bond with the beast. Relations tighten into a sailor’s knot when Charlie faces a health crisis.
777 Charlie, which has been dubbed in Hindi, pays tribute to Charlie Chaplin. There is also a sideways reference to Chaplin’s colleague Buster Keaton – Charlie’s original name is Keaton. Charlie’s antics and spirited personality suggest that he is a direct descendant of silent film stars, who forever disrupt the environment around him.
The cast includes Sangeeta Sringeri as an animal rights activist, Raj B Shetty as a veterinarian, Bobby Simha as the owner of a stud farm and Danish Sait as a journalist meets Dharma. But the 165-minute film is mostly a two-hander between Dharma and Charlie, both wound up in separate ways and seeking salvation and love.
Bahadur is the actor who generously shares the screen with a canine capable of a National Film Award-worthy performance. Brilliantly trained by Pramod BC, the dogs portraying Charlie not only act beautifully but also overact when required.
Kiranraj’s script starts off well, telling us about Dharma’s brittle personality and building up her rapport with Charlie. But unwilling – or simply unable – to get away from the suffering human and adorable animal, the film descends into a plethora of sultry emotions.
Dharma’s road trip with Charlie takes one destination, but it takes forever for the film to reach there. Filled with interludes and distractions that are further intertwined with upbeat songs and moments that echo YouTube videos about canines outperforming, 777 Charlie loses his grip and his way.
If Dharma is saved by Charlie, the film is also often saved with a single glance or bark. Showered with loving close-ups by cinematographer Arvind Kashyap and given a generous share of reaction shots by editor Prateek Shetty, Charlie is always in the moment.
Leading figure Rakshit Shetty emphatically traces Dharma’s journey from grumpy misanthrope to a sensitive caregiver in later sections, but unfortunately for him, it is already too late. Sorry man, we need more dogs.
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