777 Charlie

777 Charlie
Directed by	Kiranraj K
Written by	Kiranraj K
Produced by	Rakshit Shetty GS Gupta
Starring	Rakshit Shetty Sangeetha Sringeri Raj B. Shetty Danish Sait Bobby Simha
Cinematography	Aravind Kashyap[1]
Edited by	Pratheek Shetty[1]
Music by	Nobin Paul[1]
Production company	Paramvah Studios
Release date	31 December 2021 (2021-12-31)
Country	India
Language	Kannada

777 Charlie is an upcoming Indian Kannada language adventure comedy drama film directed by Kiranraj K. It features Rakshit Shetty, Sangeetha Sringeri and Raj B. Shetty in prominent roles. The film is being produced by Rakshit Shetty and GS Gupta under the banner of Paramvah Studios.^[2] The film will also be dubbed and released in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu languages.^[3][4]

Premise[]

The plot of 777 Charlie is said to revolve around the journey of the dog Charlie.^[5]

Cast[]

• Rakshit Shetty as Dharma^[6]
• as Vishal Arora, as Rakshit Shetty assistant Manager of the apartment
• Sangeetha Sringeri as Devika^[7]
• Raj B. Shetty as Dr. Ashwin Kumar^[8]
• Danish Sait as Karshan Roy^[9]
• Bobby Simha in a cameo role^[2]
• Charlie the Labrador

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.^[10] 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.^[11]

Casting[]

The makers initially considered Aravinnd Iyer as the lead actor, whom Shetty had recommended after working with him in Kirik Party.^[10] 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".^[12] But, as the production delayed, Iyer left the project in February 2018 as his schedule clashed with that of Bheemasena Nalamaharaja (2020). Subsequently, Shetty replaced him in the lead role.^[13] In May 2018, Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah announced a casting call for the film's female lead,^[14] in which Sangeetha Sringeri was selected as the female lead from the audition with over 2,700 entries.^[15][16] Raj B. Shetty joined the cast in July 2018,^[17] where he played the role of a veterinary doctor.^[18] Danish Sait also joined the shoot in the first schedule.^[19] Child artists Sharvari and Praanya P Rao, also appeared a part of the film.^[20] 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.^[21]

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 (2020).^[22] Kiranraj chose to shoot the first schedule in Mangalore as the opening sequences since "Charlie (the protagonist), 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."^[22] The team shot a few sequences at Sakleshpur and then moved to Mysore and Bangalore, where Shetty joined the shooting schedule.^[22][17] 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.^[23]

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.^[24] 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.^[25][26] Later, the team shot a few sequences in the Dandeli forest.^[17] 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.^[27] The makers also filmed a few portions in Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab.^[28] 777 Charlie completed 100 days of filming in March 2020,^[29] before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the production to a halt.^[30]

Filming resumed in October 2020 after a six-month break with sequences being shot in Bangalore and Kodaikanal.^[31][32] Later, the team went on a location scouting in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir to shoot more sequences, which began on 20 November 2020.^[33] Shetty joined the Kashmir schedule during the first week of December.^[34] However, due to the unpleasant weather, the team delayed the production, until filming resumed in January 2021.^[35] The film's schedule in Kashmir was completed on 27 January 2021.^[36] 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.^[37][38] After 164 days of filming, including shooting for the patchwork scenes, the makers wrapped up the shoot on 25 October 2021.^[39]

Post-production[]

The post-production simultaneously began on 29 January 2021, when the team had completed 90% of the film's production.^[36][40] It was reported that Nobin Paul had started working on the film's background score during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in August 2020.^[41] Rakshit Shetty began dubbing for the portions during March 2021, and the production team announced that 70% of the dubbing work had been completed.^[42] Since the film was to have a pan-India release, director Kiranraj and his team chose more than 200 voice artists to dub for the 50+ characters in five languages.^[43] He made sure that "the film never feels like a 'dubbed' film in other languages but instead the authenticity and local flavor is maintained in each version".^[44] After the completion of the filming, Kiranraj announced a December 2021 theatrical release.^[45]

Music[]

The score and soundtrack to 777 Charlie was composed and produced by Nobin Paul. Paul had revealed that he worked on the film's soundtrack in August 2020 in his recording studio in Kochi, as he regularly collaborate with the musicians based on the city. Since the recording of the songs had been held through online due to the COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown, Paul felt that "it was best if it was done in his presence, so that any issues can be sorted out then and there".^[41] After the Kerala government announced relaxations from the pandemic, he travelled to Kochi for beginning work on the music sessions for a month and then travelled to Bangalore, Chennai and London. Paul had finished composition of all the songs of the film even before the team planned to do vocal recordings.^[46]

777 Charlie's soundtrack will reportedly have 8-10 songs. The film will have multiple instrumental tracks which will be included in the background score of the film. Considering that the film will be dubbed in five languages, Paul had to work on the recording for five times per language, and had planned to get singers who can do maximum versions.^[41] Each song has been composed keeping a particular situation in mind and retained the uniqueness in each flavour. Eight of the songs from the album had been re-written and recorded in other languages, as the team planned to retain the authenticity and flavour maintained in each song when it has been released in other languages.^[44][47] Paul had also revealed that one song featured vocals entirely by kids.^[47]

The album's first single track titled "Torture Song" was released on 17 September 2021.^[48] The track was reportedly sung by different singers for the respective languages, which include Vijay Prakash, Ram Miriyala, Gana Balachander, Jassie Gift and Swaroop Khan.^[49][50] The music video also released on the same day, which depicts how Charlie's arrival creates havoc in Dharma's (Shetty) life leading him to face several troubles.^[51]

Track listing[]

Release[]

Director Kiranraj announced in an interview that 777 Charlie will have a theatrical release during the fourth quarter of the year. He said that "considering the budget, scale and the pan-Indian approach, one cannot assure the film being streamed in an over-the-top media service. The making of the film has been very taxing deal on us, sure, but the whole team wishes that the audience gets to see the film on the big screen. We have our hopes pinned on the vaccination drive and the government's approach in controlling the pandemic, thus the audience will be receptive to watching films in the theatres."^[43][38]

The theatrical rights of the film were sold even before the planned release date. On 3 June 2021, Prithviraj Sukumaran who watched few scenes from the preview of this film, had agreed to acquire the rights under the Prithviraj Productions banner for the film's Malayalam-dubbed version.^[52] The actor also appreciated the team for its making.^[53][54] The same month, Karthik Subbaraj's Stone Bench Films acquired the distribution rights for the Tamil-dubbed version.^[55] The teaser of this film was released on 6 June 2021 (Shetty's birthday).^[56] Several prominent celebrities from the South Indian film industry launched and praised the teaser.^[57][58]

The team planned to release the film on the last week of December, as the producers had a sentiment with Shetty's last two successful releases Kirik Party and Avane Srimmannarayana had released on the last week of December.^[59] On September 2021, the makers announced that 777 Charlie would be released theatrically on 31 December 2021, coinciding the New Year's Eve.^[60][61]

References[]

External links[]

• 777 Charlie at IMDb