777 Charlie
777 Charlie is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language adventure drama film written and directed by Kiranraj K. and produced by Paramvah Studios. It stars Charlie, a Labrador dog in the title role, and Rakshit Shetty alongside Sangeetha Sringeri, Raj B. Shetty, Danish Sait, Bobby Simha and Aniruddh Roy. The film follows the journey and bonding between a lonely factory worker and a stray Labrador dog.
777 Charlie was announced in September 2017. Principal photography took place from June 2018 to October 2021, with delays due to COVID-19 pandemic. The film was shot in various locations across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir. 777 Charlie had a limited theatrical release on 2 June 2022, and released in cinemas worldwide on 10 June 2022. The film received critical acclaim for its cast performances, writing, emotional weight and direction.
With theatrical earnings of over globally, 777 Charlie became the fifth highest-grossing Kannada film at the time of release. Among all the Kannada films released in June over the years, 777 Charlie is the highest-grossing and ranks among the top films in terms of opening week earnings. At the 69th National Film Awards, the film won the award for Best Feature Film In Kannada and four Karnataka State Film Awards for Second Best Film, Best Actor, Best Editing and Best Lyricist.
Plot
A Labrador puppy escapes from the house of a breeder where many dogs have been caged and tortured. The pup continues its journey and finally reaches the Chinmaya colony, Mysore where Dharma resides. Dharma is a loner in a colony, who does not socialize with anyone and is feared among the colony people. His life consists of mainly working at the factory, fights, booze, smoking, and watching Charlie Chaplin movies and shows on TV.He is an orphan, whose parents and sister died in a car crash caused by a dog and thereby leads a monotonous life. A musical fest at his colony makes the puppy scared and Dharma is enraged as his sleep is disturbed and he destroys the band instruments. The puppy views Dharma as her savior and secretly follows him.
The Labrador takes shelter in the dustbin outside his house and consumes the leftover idli thrown by Dharma without his knowledge. It tries to gain the attention of Dharma but in vain. One day, the dog follows him and gets into a road accident. Feeling pity for the dog after watching Charlie Chaplin's bond with a dog, Dharma takes it to the hospital where he is advised by Dr. Ashwin Kumar to let the dog stay with him, till an adopter comes forward and advises obtaining a dog license.
Though reluctant as the colony members do not allow dogs, Dharma agrees and takes care of the dog the bond between him and the dog grows to an extent where Dharma becomes a better person and names the dog Charlie after Charlie Chaplin and takes care of the dog with a child in the colony named Adrika aka Adi.
One day, Charlie loses consciousness when Dharma learns that Charlie is suffering from cancer and this genetic defect has happened due to the breeder's unwanted breeding techniques and constant torture as Charlie is a female dog. Distraught, Dharma decides to fulfill Charlie's wishes when he learns that Charlie likes to play in snow as whenever snow appears on TV, she gets excited. He leaves with Charlie for Himachal Pradesh.
An animal welfare activist Devika thinks that Dharma tortures Charlie and decides to follow him to gather proof to confront him and charge him. En route, Dharma learns about Charlie's breeder from the vet doctor and receives a video of Charlie being tortured where he learns that Charlie's name is actually Keaton. Dharma confirms this by addressing Charlie as Keaton thereby Charlie responding to the name and shown to be in fear. He reaches the breeder's house and thrashes him.
The breeder is later caught by the police. The rest of the dogs get rescued by the animal welfare team. Devika learns about this incident through her team and develops a soft corner for Dharma and tells him she is ready for any help he requires but she has to leave due to scheduled commitments at her job. Through Devika, Dharma meets Karshan Roy, who promises to publish his story in a magazine. Dharma and Charlie leave for Punjab where they meet a dog lover named Vamshinathan, who is a Tamilian, and his dog Blacky, where Dharma and Charlie spent few days with Vamshi. Vamshi provides a dog competition pass to Dharma, but they become contestants when Charlie does a long jump, supported by Dharma winning the hearts of all the audiences and the competition as well. Without money and food, Dharma sells his bike and walks to continue their journey but Charlie's condition worsens.
Dharma takes him to a monastery and learns that Charlie was pregnant with Blacky's child, but the puppies could not survive. The duo continue their journey in the bus but the bus is stopped by the army, and they reveal that a landslide occurred. After requests from Dharma, an officer agrees to take Charlie to Kashmir. Dharma and Charlie sneak out and play in snow and return to the camp. The following day, Charlie goes missing and Dharma leaves in search of Charlie. After a long search, he finds her at a temple waiting for him, who sits in his lap, then thanks him with her gesture and dies in Dharma's arms. Dharma is distraught but finds a puppy inside the temple and realises that Charlie gifted the puppy to him as she knows that Dharma cannot survive without her.
A few months later, Dharma along with Devika, Adrika and the colony people inaugurate an animal rescue and shelter in the memory of Charlie, where Dharma sits next to Charlie's memorial and goes through the article published about the journey of Charlie and Dharma. Charlie's puppy, which is also named Charlie, is shown to be more mischievous than her mother.
Cast
Production
Development
In September 2017, Rakshit Shetty announced his next film under the production banner Paramvah Studios titled as 777 Charlie. Kiranraj K., who had assisted Rishab Shetty in Ricky and Kirik Party, was brought on board for the project, which marked his directorial debut. Shetty agreed to produce the film as the script was considered to be "first-of-its-kind" in Kannada cinema. Kiranraj also revealed that some sequences in the film were inspired from his real-life incidents. Before the film's production in June 2018, dog trainer BC Pramod trained three Labrador Retrievers to play the role of Charlie in the film for three weeks, as the bonding between the dog and the lead actor was to be real and convincing.Casting
The makers initially considered Aravinnd Iyer as the lead actor, whom Shetty had recommended after working with him in Kirik Party. Shetty stated that "The character in the film works in a vehicle manufacturing factory and wears a rugged look, and even the neighbourhood children are scared of him. The role perfectly suited Aravinnd and he came on board". But, as the production delayed, Iyer left the project in February 2018 as his schedule clashed with that of Bheemasena Nalamaharaja. Subsequently, Shetty replaced him in the lead role.In May 2018, Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah announced a casting call for the film's female lead, in which Sangeetha Sringeri was selected as the female lead from the audition with over 2,700 entries. Raj B. Shetty joined the cast in July 2018, where he played the role of a veterinary doctor. Danish Sait joined the shoot in the first schedule. Child artists Sharvari and Praanya P Rao, appeared in a part of the film. In November 2020, it was announced that Tamil actor Bobby Simha would appear in a cameo role, marking his debut in the Kannada film industry.
Filming
The film's principal photography began in Mangalore on 8 June 2018, with Shetty joining the shoot after simultaneously working on the production of Avane Srimannarayana. Kiranraj chose to shoot the first schedule in Mangalore as the opening sequences since "Charlie, who escapes from one place to another, finds himself in a fish market. As the scene needed an exclusive fish selling zone, which is not available anywhere in the state, which is why we chose Mangalore." The team shot a few sequences at Sakleshpur and then moved to Mysore and Bangalore, where Shetty joined the shooting schedule. In September 2018, it was revealed that portions with young Charlie had been completed, and the team needed to take a break, since Shetty planned to resume shooting for Avane Srimannarayana. The film has music by Nobin Paul, cinematography by Aravind Kashyap, and editing by Pratheek Shetty.In March 2018, the team resumed the shooting in Mysore with scenes featuring the protagonist in his old-house as Mysore had old buildings, which suited the script. The team planned a 30-day schedule in the location and Shetty simultaneously worked on the film along with Avane Srimannarayana as he planned to release the two films within that year. Later, the team shot a few sequences in the Dandeli forest. Soon after the release of Avane Srimannarayana, Shetty rejoined the production team in late-January 2020 to shoot major sequences in North India. A montage song showcasing the bond between Charlie and Shetty was filmed in Goa. The makers also filmed a few portions in Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab. 777 Charlie completed 100 days of filming in March 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the production to a halt.
Filming resumed in October 2020 after a six-month break with sequences being shot in Bangalore and Kodaikanal. Later, the team went on a location scouting in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir to shoot more sequences, which began on 20 November 2020. Shetty joined the Kashmir schedule during the first week of December. However, due to the unpleasant weather, the team delayed the production, until filming resumed in January 2021. The film's schedule in Kashmir was completed on 27 January 2021. In June 2021, director Kiranraj stated that the team had filmed for a total of 160 days, with visuals for end credits pending to be shot. After 164 days of filming, including shooting for the patchwork scenes, the makers wrapped up the shoot on 25 October 2021.